06 Half Cocked
by Kyeian
Summary: -COMPLETE-Get up, get goin', hang on, and don't be goin' off half-cocked. That's just \asking\ for trouble.-This story contains original characters. This is the sixth story of "Chance or Circumstance". Rated for mature language and adult situations.
1. One

**A/N**: Hello and welcome back...I just wanted to say that when you see a number, like 27, it's meant to be read as "two-seven" not "twenty-seven". Also, 0 (zeros) aren't meant as "zero", they're meant as "oh"...so A0206 is "A oh two oh six"...just to differentiate why there actually are numerals in the text. As for pronunciations, "Qingfu" is supposed to be pronounced "Shingfu".

- -

**One**

"He'll be okay, won't he?" Jaden pressed the nurse as they stood outside the door to Qingfu's little room. He studied his friend with concern a moment. "He hasn't been able to stay awake at all...it's scaring me."

"It's the Remalene," she reassured him. "It speeds up the body's healing time. He'd be sleeping from being shot like that anyway, but the drug is making him even more tired because it's taking most of his resources. He'll wake up after a while and be famished."

Jaden ran his hand through his hair, then nodded at her and stepped back. "If you could, see to it he gets what he needs...and I'll come back again later."

She nodded, watching him walk away.

Jaden didn't like that he couldn't be in the room when Qingfu woke up, but he was able to leave his friend notes. Qingfu would answer him on the same piece of paper, which Jaden was glad for, because he didn't like not having Qing around to just ask or throw ideas at.

Amy, the nurse, was always at hand to give Jaden a progress report, but she was the only one with specifics. The other nurses and even a few doctors would come up and tell him how many of the wounded were already showing signs of healing.

Jaden glanced out the window that lined the hall as he headed back from the bridge. He still didn't know how he'd become the one in charge, but everything was ran by him from rations to head counts.

He'd been in utter disbelief when he'd realized there were _twenty_ children on the ship. He hadn't realized there were children on the _base_, let alone the ship. He'd been even more taken aback to learn that many of the ones they'd rescued from the tops of the buildings were teens too young to even _join_ the military.

Marshal's recruiting techniques were still a mystery to Jaden, but they did seem to involve families.

"Sir," Armend muttered quietly, moving up and passing him a sheet of paper. He studied Jaden a moment then gestured toward the hall with his head. "How's Rin?"

"He was sleeping again," Jaden returned, adding the sheets to the responses Qingfu had written up. He sighed after a moment, looking around at the people who were all sitting or standing, watching him.

"Read that, please," Armend muttered quietly. He'd stopped trying to play around with Jaden when he'd realized the _whole_ ship was taking him seriously. "I think it's important."

Jaden blinked at him, then looked to the paper...and stared.

_E.T. phone home. Not everyone fit on the bike._

"With our advanced research team," Armend noted dryly, "we were able to decipher that there are still people on the Brazil base who want to join us. Are we going back in?"

"Illicit isn't," Jaden noted pointedly, looking up to Armend. "But if there's anyone who wants to go back, we should have some sort of transport on here. I won't stop people from going back to land as long as we get our transports _back_."

"You're such a good dictator," Armend praised him cheerily, then bounced back toward the other men.

"I am _not_ a dictator," Jaden protested, moving to stop at the table that was covered in his notes. "I only decide _some_ stuff arbitrarily."

Armend started laughing happily, looking around. "So make it democratic. We have our hierarchy set up already, but you being all dictatorial means we keep it hushed so you don't chop off our heads."

"It's only a hand for a first offense," Jaden retorted.

Armend started laughing happily, then shrugged and turned to everyone else. "All in favor of Timorre as president?"

"I'm no damn president," Jaden retorted. "I can accept Captain since the ship is mine, but..."

"Aye," fully half of the people returned as Jaden spoke.

"All against?"

No one moved.

"All with a better idea?" Armend looked to the ones who hadn't voted.

"All who think Armend's an ass?" Jaden raised his hand—as did many of the ones who voted him president.

"Okay, fine," Armend pouted at him. "All in favor of Jaden as supreme commander of the SS Illicit?"

The ones who weren't sure about the jokes raised their hands uncertainly.

Jaden gave Armend a _very_ level look.

"President it is," Armend declared, grinning to the people around. "All complaints are to be submitted in hand-written triplicate and must contain one essay of a thousand words describing how President Jaden Timorre needs to get over himself."

Jaden started laughing.

"...you just voted him president," one of the men suggested blandly. "Why does _he_ have to get over himself?"

"I just voted him supreme commander of the ship," Armend retorted. "That got more ayes than nays."

"I think," Jaden spoke up quickly as the man opened his mouth again, "that you really need to pursue this discussion in private, because Armend will drive me bat-shit crazy if you don't. You're not serious?" he added to everyone else. "You don't really mean to vote me president or some shit?"

"We wanted independence," another man shrugged happily. "With you, we at least have a chance."

"I have at least one gundam pilot who'd take my head on sight," Jaden protested. "Which means a fifth of the damn ESA."

"Yes," a woman noted drolly from where she was lounging, "but in case you missed it, there seem to be _five_ gundam pilots after Rab's head. I like your odds better...besides, I tend to agree with you on decisions."

Jaden raised an eyebrow at her.

"And my son thinks you're cute, but that's something else entirely," she rose to her feet. "President Timorre," she saluted, "I am at your immediate disposal."

- -

It was early in the morning as three soldiers drove across the base of Marshal Gerrange. The trunk of the first car was full of items that had been thrown out from the men who'd ran with Timorre, and the second car was nearly full to bursting. As they moved through the dawn silence, another car fell in behind them. Inside of it were ten more men who were done with Rab and his games...and their things. A second van appeared shortly after, and the four cars wend their way through the hills that surrounded the base toward the banks of the Amazon.

They knew that if anyone realized what they were about, they'd be attacked, but the early hour and the cryptic message about following the Reesces Pieces to the really big river had made it around the remaining people in the base who were done with Rab and all his vainglory.

It was time to try again, and avoid being labeled terrorists.

- -

"Okay, I know I was trained like...wickedly," Trowa noted, sitting on his chair—the chair was backwards, so his arms were folding against the top of it at the little table. He had notes in his hand, and Lifon was curled up in her normal seat. "But you're really saying that _wrong_, and it's driving me _nuts_."

"How am I saying it wrong?" she asked, studying his face. "You keep doing this...it's annoying."

"I know," he rubbed at his face. "The thing is the accent."

"Why would I have the accent?" she retorted. "Think about it."

"I said I know it's because how I learned," he retorted. "I needed to take a moment to figure it out."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I got hit every time I said it wrong," Trowa informed her. "And it was hard. You have no idea, I almost smacked you a minute ago."

The look on her face turned offended as she sat up.

"_You_ have to bear with me as much as _I_ have to bear with you," he protested. "Don't look at me like that. I _didn't_ smack you, did I?"

"Let's do something else," she muttered, shoving the papers she'd had across her laptop away. "I don't want to do this anymore."

Trowa rolled his eyes, tossing the spiral he had down and sitting back as he considered her.

"_What?_" Quatre demanded, slamming into the apartment with a harried expression on his face. "You're not serious! You're not..._are_ you serious?"

"What?" Li asked, tilting her head at him.

Quatre focused on her a long moment, then turned and disappeared down the hall. "Am I coming? Do I need to...no...no, of course I wouldn't make it in...but...what if it's a long labor?"

"Labor?" Lifon asked, looking around to Trowa.

Trowa hopped out of his seat, gesturing the girl after him as he started down the hall after his friend. He had a feeling Fasiha was about to have her baby, because they didn't know anyone else who'd have a long labor.

"Right...right...I'm coming," Quatre tossed his phone onto his bed and ran a hand through his hair.

"What, now?" Trowa demanded, stopping in the door.

"Fasiha is going into labor," Quatre returned promptly. "Not fake, her water broke...shit..." he started pulling clothes out of the dresser, tossing them onto the bed, then cursed and shook his head. "Get me my ticket."

Trowa wanted to demand the other make him or say please, or _something_, but he couldn't bring himself to be _that_ big a jackass.

He turned back down the hall wordlessly as Li gave him a confused look. It didn't take him long to pull up the flight listings and select a one-way ticket option.

"Haha," Li muttered, leaning down over his shoulder. "Getting rid of him for real."

Trowa flashed her a grin and gave her a quick kiss as he started down the hall. She didn't follow, but he didn't figure she needed to. "Okay, so there's a flight in a half hour. If you fly, you can make it."

"Right, I'll pay you back," Quatre turned and headed into the bathroom.

"All you really need is small clothes," Trowa reminded him. "You've left some stuff up there anyway, and you can go buy more."

Quatre came up short, hesitating a minute, then nodded and hugged him. He pulled away with a bright grin. "She's having her baby...for _real_."

Trowa hugged him again, then stepped back.

"Let...let...I'll call Duo, let the others know for me," he turned and started down the hall. "Bye, Li," he added, hugging her and kissing her temple. "I'll be back...after the baby is born," he laughed and disappeared out the door.

Trowa snorted and moved to order the ticket. He paid the fee to keep the craft waiting, too. Quatre wouldn't be happy to get there and not have things in order. No luggage, just a carry-on...and...there. Trowa sent the confirmation to Quatre's phone, then looked around to the very quiet teenage girl.

"You...kissed me."

"No I didn't," he protested instantly, then blinked as he thought about it. He really _had_ kissed her...nothing serious, but... "Uh..."

She snickered. "You totally kissed me," she repeated happily. She moved to sit at her laptop. "So now we're even...and if you make me mad I'll tell my dad."

Trowa gave her a _very_ level look.

She started snickering wickedly, studying him a long moment, then pulled up her browser.

- -

Duo moved around the apartment again, frowning slightly. Wufei was holed up in his room under a pile of blankets, trying to avoid hacking his lungs out, and Jinli hadn't come home from work yet. Quatre was gone, and Trowa was playing with Lifon. Heero and Matty were in their room, Heero was helping Matty with his homework.

"You have no idea what to do with yourself, do you?" Wufei muttered, moving from his room. He _looked_ miserable. He stumbled against the wall, then laughed weakly. "Whoa...light headed."

"What are you doing?" Duo protested, moving instantly to support him, then flinched back slightly. "You're burning up! Wufei..."

"I'm alright," Wufei protested. "I just...need some...acetaminophen...where's Jin?"

"Still at work?"

Wufei's expression changed to uncertainty and he looked around. "What time is it?"

"I've only been home a little while," Duo retorted. "Are you okay?"

"I have a fever," Wufei met Duo's eyes. "Want to rephrase that?"

"I meant _because_ of the fever, asshole. What are you doing?"

"I was laying in there shivering," Wufei explained, moving along the hall carefully. "And had the thought that if I'm so hot the house is cold, then I've also probably sweated out all my liquid. I haven't had to pee since I woke up, and look, you're home and can be a bitch for me."

Duo smacked him, turning and starting up the hall properly. "I think you need food, too."

"Funny thing about that," Wufei moved to drop on the couch. "No."

Duo turned and leveled him with a look.

Wufei made a noise at him and curled into a ball. "Turn the heat up?"

"No," Duo gave him a look and pulled the fridge open to consider options. Wufei _would_ need liquids, but he also needed some sort of...nutrition.

"I'm so cold," Wufei whispered when Duo moved back to him with, he was shivering. "What is that?"

"This is juice and pills," Duo retorted. "I assume you wanted both."

"I don't suppose you're going to do something nice like killing me, are you?"

"Sorry, no," Duo returned. "I'm an asshole like that."

Wufei grinned, sitting up and taking the pills from the other. He glowered at them a long moment, then tossed them into his mouth. He took the juice-box from Duo and swallowed his mouthful.

"You want to go lay back down or what?"

"Or what," Wufei returned. "I'm cold, tired, and lonely."

Duo considered that a moment, but hanging out with his sick friend would be something to do. He rose to his feet, moving down the hall.

"Duo?" Wufei muttered. "_Duo?_" he called a little louder.

Duo grinned slightly, wondering how insecure Wufei really _was_. There had always been points of it in him, and they'd been exacerbated at some point. He was, in a lot of ways, like he had been after the shock had worn off back in their teens.

"What did you do?" Wufei muttered blankly when Duo reappeared, then blinked at the blanket he was holding.

Duo covered his friend and dropped down onto the couch next to him, turning on the television.

Wufei sniggered slightly. "I knew you loved me...either that, or you'd be just as lonely as me."

"Unfortunately," Duo returned wryly, "I do love you. Not sure how that one works."

Wufei started laughing...and then started to cough.

- -

"Jin!" Wufei muttered as Jinli entered the apartment. "Jin! Duo tried to kidnap me."

"What are you doing half-assing it?" Jin demanded, moving around the kitchen counter to look at Duo with interest.

Duo gave him a sour look. "He was coughing hard enough that I thought he was going to cough up blood."

Jin blinked, realizing that the play was all from Wufei.

"I tried to take him to the hospital and he freaked out on me, went into the bathroom, and turned on the hot water and sat in there forever. I'm sure that didn't _really_ help, either. He needs to go talk to the damn doctor about a nebulizer or _something_ because I think he's getting pneumonia."

Jinli focused on Wufei sharply.

"Don't be a bitch," Wufei grumbled, curling over onto the couch again. He made a remarkably small ball, considering he was wrapped in his comforter.

"We need to _go **in**_," Duo snapped irritably. "That coughing was _not_ good...and you haven't _stopped_ coughing."

"I _went_ in," Wufei snapped back. "They said I had bronchitis. That means my _lungs_ are _pissed_ at me," Wufei glared around the edge of the blanket at the other.

"Wow," Jinli muttered.

Duo stood and paced back and forth a few times, running his hands through his hair. He paused, though, looking up at Jin.

"What?" Jin demanded skeptically.

"You're his espoused," Duo informed him. "You can check him in. That means I can brain his ass and you can _sign_ him in."

Wufei started laughing weakly.

"_Don't_ start that," Duo ordered him, pointing at Wufei irritably.

Wufei started laughing even more.

Jin sighed, moving around the counter to look down at Wufei.

Wufei sobered, then covered his head with the blanket.

"You're being childish," Jin noted in Chinese.

"No I'm not," Wufei retorted in English. "I just don't want to go back to the doctor when he's already said all they have left to do is give me medicine."

"You're _being_ childish," Jin repeated, again in Chinese.

"I am _not_," Wufei persisted again in English. "Stop talking at me like that."

"Your lungs are obviously worse off," Jin ignored the order. "And if he _means_ he'll knock you out like I think he does, well, he's more a medic than I am."

"He's full of shit," Wufei snapped. "I coughed, I have bronchitis. It _happens_."

"You didn't just _cough_," Duo snapped.

"What the _hell_ is going on out here?" Heero half-mumbled, moving into the room. From the way he was looking around and blinking, the red lines on his face, and the shape of his hair, they could tell he'd been sleeping.

"He needs to go back into the doctor," Duo informed Heero, pointing at Wufei. "We need to take him in."

Heero rubbed at his face a moment, thinking about that as he ran a hand through his hair and studied the ball on the couch. "Just let me..."

"I do _not_," Wufei snapped, shoving the blanket down to glare at Heero. "I just _coughed_."

"You mean when you were hacking your lungs out?" Heero blinked at him a moment, then turned and nodded to Duo.

"You hate me, don't you?" Wufei grumped petulantly, dropping fully back onto the couch.

"Obviously," Heero agreed. "Why else would I be taking you into the doctor when you're trying to cough out your lungs? Shit, if I loved you, I'd just leave you in your room all day."

"You _did_," Wufei shifted to look toward the hall better.

"I was at _work_," Heero couldn't let it pass, stopping in the hall in disbelief.

"You all left me alone," Wufei persisted. "Quatre didn't even tell me good-bye."

"Quatre is going to see a baby that won't have an immune system," Duo snapped, then turned and stormed toward the rooms. "Jin, get his paperwork."

Jin ran a hand over his hair as he thought about that, then sighed and started across the living room.

"You're just letting them do this?" Wufei snapped.

"You're obviously irrational," Jinli said happily in Chinese. "As your...loving...husband...I have to take care of you in your time of need."

"I'm going to have to kick your ass, aren't I?" Wufei muttered dryly.

"As if you could catch me."

- -

"So what's going on?" Quatre asked nervously. "Why didn't Duo call me?"

"Duo has his hands full of Chinese males," Trowa retorted, walking down the hall in amusement. "He can't come to the phone right now, but if you'd like to leave a message..."

"Trowa."

Trowa sniggered. "Sorry...no. I haven't gotten all the details on it yet. I just got from Heero that no one had called you yet. Wufei's being a pill. They want to give him a shot and he's refusing. Jin stepped in as far as I can tell, and actually said to do it. As his espoused..."

"Wow...did you realize he was that sick at all? If they want to give him a shot..."

"He's been in his room a lot, mostly talking to Jin. You know what?"

"Huh?" Quatre ran a hand through his hair, studying the ship around him tiredly.

"When you get back, we need to all sit around and talk again. We need to start being our group again because we've totally drifted apart."

"I guess," Quatre agreed quietly.

"So," Trowa added, stopping at the door. Duo was standing at the head of the bed, trying to hold Wufei's left shoulder down. Jinli was standing at his right shoulder, and Heero was trying to hold his legs down. "I'm needed. Jin's not strong enough."

Quatre made an annoyed noise and hung up.

Trowa grinned, moving into the room. Wufei was cursing mostly at Jin, but was able to move enough to keep the doctor from shooting him up. Trowa moved happily forward...and dropped across Wufei's middle.

Wufei exploded into curses, snarling and trying to fight against Trowa, but Trowa fully draped himself, then raised one leg to lock down the one on the far side for the doctor. It was more intimate than he _wanted_ to be with his friend, but some things had to be given up for the sake of the mission—or pissing said friend off for shits and giggles.

Wufei started laughing weakly, dropping backwards...and the doctor moved.

The laughing and relaxation that had accompanied it disappeared. Wufei hissed in pain, digging his nails into Trowa's arms.

"Hey, now," Trowa whispered, trying to pull away.

Wufei laughed, digging his nails in more. Trowa wasn't sure when he'd started liking pain, but he was pretty sure some of those nights with Blake had entailed nails. He tried to pull away even more from the Asian man as Wufei gave up. He totally stopped trying to fight with a distant look in his eyes, then focused, starting to shove at Trowa.

"Let him go now," Jin muttered, stepping back. Trowa gave Wufei a skeptical look—and was glared at for it.

Trowa shifted back, then off the bed. He pulled away, looking around at his other friends as they all looked around to the doctor.

- -

Quatre stumbled down the hospital hallway with the attendant left for him in the lead. The flight had taken forever, and from what he'd gathered from his sisters, Fasiha was still in labor.

"In here, quickly," the attendant muttered, pulling Quatre into a room. Before Quatre could more than agree, the man was tearing his clothes off, and for a wonder he was faster than Duo. The thought was brief and passing before Quatre was stumbling into scrubs. It didn't take long for his arms to be fully washed, and before he could make heads or tails of anything, he was stumbling into a hospital room.

Fasiha was laying on the bed with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was gasping for breath with tears in her eyes, but when she saw him, she managed to smile.

"Are you okay?" he breathed. "Siha?"

"Fuck you," she gasped back.

"Are...you the father?" the doctor asked blankly, blinking at Quatre's face.

"_Fuck_ no," Quatre retorted, moving across the room to take his sister's hand. Adala was standing on her other side. "I'm her brother."

The man _froze_.

Quatre snorted at him, then leaned down to hug his sister briefly.

"_Shit_," she gasped...and started to groan.

"Push! Push, honey!" the doctor started encouraging her. "Just let your body do what it needs to!"

"How was your flight?" Adala asked brightly, studying Quatre's face.

"Long," he retorted.

"We've been here longer," she returned in that same chipper tone.

Quatre had to smile at that, then focused on his sister as she started to sort of scream. He grabbed her hand, studying her face a long moment—he knew they had her shot up with pain killers, and the pain she was feeling was beyond even that...but it was still upsetting.

"Hold her leg!" the doctor ordered Quatre. "Here, like this..." he showed Quatre how to do it.

Quatre moved down in mild alarm.

"Okay, Siha," Adala whispered, putting a hand on the younger's forehead. "Quatre's here, huh?"

Fasiha started laughing weakly.

"You weren't waiting for me, were you?" Quatre asked blankly.

Adala started laughing...but then Fasiha had to push. Quatre had never expected to _see_ a child be born, let alone from the rather close angle he was given. It took a while, but finally she managed to push the child out...there was a sort of shock in it as the baby started to cry.

"Never seen a baby born?" the doctor asked Quatre brightly as he wiped at his eyes. He felt like his heart was going to break...or maybe just melt.

"No...never," Quatre agreed.

"You okay, little brother?" Fasiha asked, blinking at him distantly. "I can't tell if you're pale or just..."

Quatre laughed, wiping at his face again.

"Here you go, Miss Winner," the nurse muttered, pressing the child into Fasiha's arms. "Here's your son."

"Son?" Quatre demanded, his mind instantly focusing on the bundle in his sister's arms. He knew he should know that, he'd _seen_ that it was a boy, but somehow his mind hadn't processed that...

"Son," Fasiha agreed. "Hadn't I told you that?"

"I don't know," Quatre returned, moving forward to look at the crying baby. It was calming, but still crying.

"I told her not to wait for you," Adala informed Quatre happily, petting the baby's head. "But she was bound and determined you were here for the birth."

"And before you brush that off," the doctor muttered as the nurses started whatever other processes they had to go through, "a woman's mind and will _can_ dictate that."

Quatre blinked at him.

"I didn't _mean_ to do it," Fasiha retorted, cuddling the babe even closer.

Quatre turned to study his sister, then smiled at her.

She smiled back at him, then offered the child up for him to hold.

"Are you...sure?" Quatre hesitated, various rants he'd heard from women crossing his mind.

"You have to support his head," the nurse muttered, moving around to help show him. "It's easy, I promise..."

- -

"Hey, guys?"

Heero and Matty looked up from the love seat as Trowa turned his head as well. Jin was sitting on the far end of the couch, and Wufei was curled up with his head on Jin's thigh. They all turned to look at him.

"It's a boy."

Wufei pushed himself up.

"Here," Duo added, moving forward to pick up the remote. The incoming call note started flashing at them, and he hit the accept.

"Hey!" Quatre greeted. He was sitting in a generic hospital room...with a baby in his arms. "She _totally_ waited for me to be here before she had him."

"Seriously? They can do that?" Trowa looked around to the other males skeptically.

Quatre started laughing, then shifted his arms. It took him a moment, and all his motions were delicate, but finally, he shifted the bundle around.

"Holy shit," Trowa noted happily, "it has a face."

Quatre laughed at that, dropping the baby back down into his arms to coo.

"Quatre?" Fasiha asked. "Can I have my baby back yet?"

"No, I'm stealing him," Quatre called over his shoulder. "I'll call him mini-Quatre, and he'll do my bidding, mwhahaha..."

Fasiha started laughing weakly.

Trowa raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Quatre smiled at them all again. "Adala decided he was my clone. It kinda went from there..."

"So, Duo?" Fasiha called. "You'll raise my baby right, right?"

Duo started laughing.

"I mean...obviously Quatre's the bitch in the relationship, so..."

"You'd be surprised," Duo noted happily.

Quatre laughed his delighted laugh again, studying Duo's face, then looked to the rest. "All right. I'm aware you're all into the game..."

"Don't worry," Matty reassured him with a grin. "We can see the score above the vid screen."

Quatre grinned happily at that, then glanced over his shoulder as Fasiha made a little noise. "Okay...well...she wants her baby back and I really keep stealing him, so I'm gonna let her...um...I shouldn't be here more than a few days, really." He sighed. "I miss you," he noted to Duo. "I've been wishing you were here."

"Oh, don't worry," Wufei grumbled, "he's lost without you. He'd been home for a while, and when I got up, he was pacing and miserable. I think he's pining for you."

Quatre laughed at that, looking back to Duo again, then smiled shyly.

Duo smiled back, and Quatre ended the call.

"Okay," Matty muttered dryly. "Do _we_ do that?"

"You didn't call us on the vid," Duo retorted, turning to look the seating arrangements over. "We couldn't answer that. You two _are_ stupidly in love, though, so don't even give me that."

Matty grinned back at him.

Heero sighed, pulling Matty with him to one side.

Duo sighed, dropping next to them. "Okay...so what do we do now?"

- -

1 of 2 updates


	2. Two

**Two**

It was late when multiple military vans began pulling into the parking lot, and the staff of the grocery store stopped to watch. They continued watching as the soldiers poured out of the vans.

"We're...closing," the manager offered hesitantly as the soldiers started for the door. "Come back...in the morning."

The soldiers pointed their weapons at the man.

"We'll call the police," the man muttered, gesturing behind himself. "You can't think it's okay to just..."

The soldiers cocked their weapons and pointed them at the various workers.

"We'll just take what we need and leave you," one of the soldiers informed him happily in Portuguese.

"For larger purchases..."

The soldier made a gesture with his right hand...and one of the other soldiers shot.

The workers danced backwards, looking around to each other uncertainly.

"Stand aside," the man suggested happily. "Or we'll remove our obstacles."

- -

When the soldiers began filing into another store, the civilians noticed. When the weapons were raised, the workers began to notice...when the soldiers began taking things, the security moved to step in.

The civilians and workers were stunned when the shots silenced, and as the security team gave up their weapons...and the medics with the soldiers were careful to take care of the wounded.

- -

"We're...a little upset," Une informed the males quietly. "There was an...incident...last night."

"Like what?" Heero demanded levelly.

"Like...Gerrange lost his fucking mind," she spat, glaring around the room. "We got word that something was going to happen last night, but nothing firm on _what_," she ran a hand through her hair. "He raided a city without a military post. Probably three stores. His men just went in and took food. There wasn't too much _other_ than that. But they took food and water."

Heero and Duo exchanged a look.

"Oh my god," Matty gasped at the same time, moving forward. "Were many people hurt?"

"Quit doing that," Heero protested mildly. "It makes us look bad."

Matty gave him a brief look and dismissed the commentary. "Was it bad? What happened?"

"A few people were hurt," she ran a hand through her hair. "Not badly or anything. They took what they came for and left. Before anyone could get properly mobilized they were gone—the officers who gave chase were...dissuaded from following."

"Bang boom fire?" Duo offered.

She nodded.

"And the ESA is?" Heero pressed.

"They're...figuring things out?"

"Why is that a question?" Heero demanded. "What do you mean they're figuring things out?"

She sighed.

Heero sighed as well, looking around.

"We're going to have to come down there, aren't we?" Duo asked quietly. "They're starting to become a problem."

"I don't know," she admitted quietly. "We don't know if we can handle them or not...but things are starting to move again."

Duo sighed, studying his cup again, then looked around. "Where's Wufei?"

"Sleeping," Matty returned.

"Trowa?"

"He's either with Li or Blake, I'm not sure."

They smiled wanly at him.

Noises started in the background of their superior, loud and persistent. Une's head swung around, and even as she stood, her hand hit the disconnect button.

"Huh, I don't think she meant to do that," Heero mused, moving to pull Matty to his chest. "We have the clearance for pretty much everything."

"It's really started again?" Matty asked quietly. "Did she really just say Rab raided some poor Brazilian city?"

Heero sighed, looking back to Duo.

"I'm going to wake up Fei and see what he says," Duo muttered, wandering toward the hall. "Hopefully she'll get back to us with more information."

- -

"Hey, guys," Quatre muttered, leaning against the side of the vid.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked, sitting up. "What happened?"

Quatre smiled a tired little smile. "Nothing's happened, that's not why I'm calling."

Heero and Duo settled back some, giving him interested looks.

"Are you...okay?" Matty asked, sitting forward slightly as he studied the half-blond. "You don't seem...uh..."

"I'm tired," Quatre shrugged. "Fasiha wasn't recovering as fast as she should have...and my mom _died_ because of me," he avoided eyes but looking away from the camera. "I don't even remember who of you I've told...I thought I was a test-tube growing up, but I was wrong. My mom _had_ me...and they thought she'd be okay, but she was weak...like Fasiha was. She died...and Fasiha was doing the same thing. We _thought_ she was okay at first, but then she wasn't coming up, and..." He rubbed at his face. "It doesn't matter anymore," he decided, then smiled at them all. "She's getting color back in her cheeks, Ethan is fine...and I'm still trying to talk my sisters into making her rename him."

Duo laughed fondly. "Ethan Raberba Winner is a _fine_ name, Quatre. She waited for you to be there to _have_ him. Leave the woman be. She almost died, huh? The idea was terrifying enough to you that you can work with that."

Quatre gave him a beady look.

"You want me to come up?" Duo asked softly.

"Well," Quatre looked away again. "I got a call from Une a bit ago...and you're needed there."

"If you need me..." Duo looked around to Trowa, who was sitting on the love seat by himself. "I mean...Trowa said he wanted to get Heavyarms. If you need me..."

Quatre smiled at that and shook his head. "I'm okay now, Duo. I think I'll be home in a few days. I want to be sure she's healthy, of course, and spend a little more time with Ethan...but then I'll come back. With luck, there won't be any more raids in Brazil."

They all nodded.

"Don't try and wait for me if shit starts going down," Quatre cautioned. "I'll come in late with guns blazing...but that won't do any of us any good if you're not already there."

They nodded seriously.

"And when you go," Quatre looked them all over, his tone taking on an edge of command. "When you go," he repeated, "Matty and Jinli need to stay behind."

Matty straightened.

"We can _help_," Jinli snapped. "I've proven myself to..."

"We need men we can trust to carry our orders," Quatre cut that off, the command still in his voice. "We need you _away_ from the danger-zone...we need you _safe_. When Matty was grabbed, there was no way Heero could have performed his duties. He _had_ to go after him. If _you_ get grabbed, I don't imagine Wufei would be any better. If you're home where we've _made_ it safe, we'll know we can go full bore. We _need_ to put our all into this shit and cap it. We need as _few_ distractions as humanly possible."

Jinli was staring at him.

"I feel useful," Matty grumped, dropping over against Heero.

"Okay, you've been running around the bases, talking to our superiors, and all around being a presence for most of this last _year_, Williams. _You_ will get shit done—I know you will, too," he added to Jinli promptly. "I don't mean to take that away from you...so don't go feeling sorry for yourself because I have to be an asshole and pull rank."

Matty nodded glumly.

"So," Quatre added, rubbing at his eyes. "I think that was everything I wanted to say. It's the middle of the game, right?" he grinned out at them happily. "I was trying to call in the middle of your shows and all, but..."

Heero laughed happily at that and raised the remote.

"I...I love you," Quatre said to Duo. "I mean...I love you all," he looked around, then smiled slightly. "But I love you."

"I miss you," Duo agreed. "You need to get back, it's been two days and I think I'm gonna lose my mind."

Quatre smiled at that, then around to the rest of them and nodded. "Talk to you all later...be safe."

They all nodded their agreement to that, and he disconnected the call.

"He's annoying," Wufei informed them all. "Where does he get off pulling rank when _we're_ the ones flying?" he pouted at Duo.

"You would ever...not...listen to him?" Duo asked blankly.

"Of course not," Wufei retorted, rolling his eyes. "That's beside the point! Entirely _beside_ the point!"

- -

There wasn't enough left...there wasn't enough of _anything_ left. How were they going to get _more_? Pull some psycho stunt like the news said Rab did and _beg_ the ESA to come snuff them out once and for all? That seemed to be Rab's grand plan—no. No. He wasn't going to raid some small town, he doubted anyone would obey him if he tried to give the order anyway. It wasn't his style, and it wasn't what _they_ believed. Jaden kicked the pile of empty boxes irritably, watching them skitter across the floor.

The only problem with abandoning the sect of terrorists you were associated with with a good five thousand men was that you lost the resources that had somehow or another been provided.

"Do you...feel better now?" Qingfu asked curiously, moving into the room and looking at the empty boxes. "Oh," he blinked, "this looks promising."

Jaden kicked another box, then ran his hands through his hair. "You need to rest, what are you doing?"

"I was told to take it easy," Qingfu retorted, "but that moving around would help. Don't turn into a bitch on me now."

Jaden snorted at him.

Qingfu moved in around him, looking the steadily emptying store-room over. "Shit...if this is going this fast...we must be _fucked_ for medical."

"It was set for extension on a cruise ship," Jaden returned. "So not this bad...but with as many wounded as we had..."

"Hm," Qingfu stopped, leaning against him to look the area over.

"I'm just...what do I do?" Jaden gestured at the boxes. "What _can_ I do?"

"Yo, boss-man?"

Jaden turned to look at Armend, who stopped to blink at them.

"Uh..." Armend blinked a few times at Qingfu—who was holding onto Jaden's arm. "Sorry...we just had...a few ideas," he shifted backwards in the door and gestured down the hall as he studied Qingfu. "When you...have a moment."

Jaden blinked as he disappeared.

Qingfu let Jaden go and grinned wickedly at him.

"Be careful with that," Jaden muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'm starting to forget it's a game."

Qingfu laughed wickedly, leaning against him again. "That just makes it fun."

Jaden snorted at him, then shook his head and started away. "Does anyone know you're even in here?"

"You do...and Hoxha."

Jaden focused on him.

"I was just wandering," Qingfu noted dryly. "Can you calm your shit?"

"I could," Jaden noted. "I won't, but I could."

Qingfu snorted.

"Come on," Jaden ordered, starting away. "Let's blow."

"You didn't really just say that did you?" Qingfu demanded, turning to look at him. "_Really_?"

"You could blow," Jaden noted happily, reaching for the button of his jeans. "I was thinking sixty-nine, but hey..."

Qingfu started laughing.

Jaden grinned, then started from the room. It was nice to hear that laugh again. It was nice to have someone to _talk_ to. Shit was definitely going downhill for his little rebellion against the rebellion, but at least he wasn't so alone anymore.

He had absolutely _no_ idea what to do...but he wasn't alone.

The notion of having Armend as his right hand and still feeling alone was kind of...sad. Armend had proven to be a true and steadfast friend, just a little too interested in...inter...personal...relationships. Enter-personnel relationships?

Wow...he'd really just thought that.

"What are you smirking at?" Qingfu demanded in a warning tone. "I don't think I like that smirk."

Jaden laughed, giving him an innocent look. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

They were still debating as they moved back into the main halls. Jaden had to focus his attention on the people around them, but Qingfu kept up a running commentary.

"Wow," Qingfu said quietly as they neared the bridge area, slowing. "That was a long walk..."

"Are you okay?" Jaden asked nervously, slowing as well to focus on his friend properly. He hadn't even thought about the distance from the storage to the bridge, but it really was the length of the ship. He'd taken the stairs, too.

"I'm just...a little tired," Qingfu returned quietly, looking the bridge area over as the people in it looked up at them with interest.

Jaden offered him an arm, debating how much of this was farce. On one hand, his friend had received some serious internal injuries; on the other hand, his friend was trying to make Armend believe they were lovers.

And Armend wasn't in the room.

Jaden glanced around again, frowning slightly as he supported the male to the head of the table. He set him down in is normal seat, then moved to grab a water-bottle from the box to one side of the room.

"Thanks," Qingfu muttered, smiling slightly at him.

"I understand that totally, I just don't know if it will _help_ us," Armend grumbled, moving into the room with a dark-haired male.

Everyone around the tables turned to look at the pair as Armend focused on Qingfu in disbelief and the second man saluted.

Jaden gestured the salute away, sitting on the end of the table as he considered the guy. "What's going on?"

"This is...is...um..." Armend ran a hand through his hair. "Why is Rin in your chair?"

Jaden blinked at him in confusion, looking down to Qingfu, who was blinking at Armend.

"_What_?" the guy asked, turning on Armend. "We're debating if they'll let me contact the ESA, and you're asking why some _guy_ is sitting in some _seat_?"

The silence that fell was instant.

Armend looked wide-eyed back to the man, opening his mouth and hesitating.

"Contacting the ESA," Qingfu muttered dryly, sitting back and looking up at Jaden. "Have we found our first spy?"

"I think we may have," Jaden agreed, considering the young man. "The question is, why is he here? _We_," he gestured at the table in general, "aren't _doing_ anything."

"I'm not a spy," the man retorted, turning back to him. "I just know some."

"Hey, Jaden," Qingfu muttered. "I have this friend, and he's been having this...problem with...with...erectile dysfunction..."

Half the room guffawed.

"What should I tell him?" Qingfu added happily.

"Grab the lube and bend over," Jaden retorted, rising to his feet. The people in the room all flinched, and the half that guffawed started snickering.

Qingfu himself laughed happily, looking around. "I...have no problems with erectile dysfunction. I swear it."

"Good job, Qing," Jaden muttered, moving across the room as everyone's snickering turned to groans. "You just took an example and made it a consideration."

Qingfu started laughing harder.

Jaden stopped in front of the dark haired male, studying his face, his eyes, his body language. "_Who_ are you?" he demanded. "What is your connection to the ESA? And if you bring them down on my head, I'll kill you slowly."

The man's mouth snapped shut.

"The thing that most people forget," Jaden noted, pulling out his knife and pressing it to the guy's throat, "is that I don't _really_ have patience."

"I'm Clint Robbs, airmen first class," the man said quickly, staring up at his eyes. "I have several friends in the ESA," his voice was nervous. "My thought is that I can get the news to them that we're running low on supplies and are trying to figure out how..."

Jaden smirked slowly at him, then grinned wickedly, turning to look at everyone else in the room. Most were staring at him with an incomprehensive look, only Armend looked ready to move.

Armend knew him.

"That, ladies and gentlemen," Jaden said happily, "is how you find out the spies."

They looked around nervously.

Jaden turned, running his blade-tip along the man's lips, smiling slowly as he watched those very wide eyes. "You see...back in the wars...I got away with a _lot_ of shit," he turned to meet eyes again. "I pulled a lot of shit, I hurt a lot of people...and it was all because I had no real control of my temper." He turned back to the young man and smiled winningly at him. "You're cute."

The guy blinked.

"But you just gave up the game," he shrugged. "Join us tomorrow," he suggested. "We can lay out a plan of what help for what services we should offer—though my not _killing_ you," he smiled, "should afford us a few more medical supplies."

The man stepped back, studying him seriously.

"Don't send anyone to follow him," Jaden added to Armend easily. "And as for your question...Qingfu's wherever _I_ want him to be."

People exchanged looks.

"Qingfu," Jaden added, "why don't I help you up to our room, huh? You should rest."

Qingfu nodded, rising slowly to his feet.

"I trust you," he added to everyone else. "Carry on without me. I'll try to hurry and return."

- -

"He just told me to join them tomorrow," Clint muttered, running a hand around his mouth. "He said not to have anyone follow me and..."

"So you've been watching your back?" the colonel he was talking to demanded.

"Of course I have been," Clint snapped back. "And I'm using my scrambler..."

"So what happened? How _come_ he decided you were a spy?"

Clint fidgeted slightly. "They...Hoxha called the other guy Rin. He demanded why Rin was in Timorre's seat. Then Timorre called him Qingfu, so I have confirmation of the presence of Rin Qingfu."

"...And then they called you a spy?"

Clint snorted at that, then shook his head. "When we went in, Hoxha was about to introduce me, but he was completely distracted by Rin sitting in Timorre's seat."

"Why?"

"Because Timorre is the president, and the supreme frickin' ruler of the ship," Clint retorted. "They made an announcement about it, and people were talking—evidently Timorre thinks it's ridiculous that he's both, but the council voted in favor of both. I'm fairly certain that the supreme ruler shit was a joke. Anyway, he sits at the head of the council table and Rin was there. Timorre was sitting next to him on the table. Hoxha has somethin' for Timorre...an old flame or lust or something like that. He doesn't go into it, the only thing mentioned was Rin and Timorre seem to be a couple."

"That's nice," the man ran a hand along his face. "Now that we've caught up on the gossip..."

"Everyone looked at us in confusion when we came in, and he started to introduce me, but couldn't get around Rin being in that chair. I noted that I was offering to contact the ESA for help and Rin repeated it, and asked if Timorre thought I was a spy. I denied it, but Timorre came up to me and...his knife."

"He didn't cut you, did he?" the man asked tensely. "You're not wounded? If you're..."

"No. I told him the airmen name and explained that I had friends who were spies. They didn't believe that, but didn't care. He said I gave it up because I was scared."

"He pulled a _knife_ on you..."

"And thought it was fucking hilarious," Clint agreed darkly. "Told everyone that that was how to catch a spy...then told me I was cute."

"Nice," the man snorted.

"Yeah, I was a little worried about his knife...he was running the tip of it over my lips...not exactly the time to protest. He said they weren't doing anything, said for me to join them tomorrow...told them not to bother following me, then informed me that not killing me should be worth some medical supplies."

"They aren't _that_ bad off, are they?"

"Kind of," Clint rubbed at his arm, looking around almost nervously. He was in an empty hall, and no one had walked by the end of it for a while. "I mean...there are a few issues. If we lose our solar power we're fucked. They figured that about half of our intake is going to the medical wing...and we have a couple weeks worth of food, and no one knows what to do for more. As far as I can tell, that's what they've been discussing."

"Great," the colonel muttered tiredly. "More raids..."

"Well, I'm hoping to interrupt that," Clint retorted. "I'm putting in a request for a week's worth of food."

"For fifty-five hundred people," the colonel returned levelly. "You want us to just give you _that_ much food?"

"Well, Timorre suggested a trade of some sort...a service. I don't know what he's willing to give you...but he's willing to talk."

The man sighed. "Well, at the very least, I think his medical supplies are within reason..."

"He wouldn't have killed me," the guy protested.

"You saw there have been deaths attributed to him but not proven?" the man snapped. "You remember us talking about him going batshit psycho on people who annoyed him?"

"Sir," Clint agreed sourly. "I just..."

"If the man pulled a weapon on you and didn't kill you, then we can deal."

"Sir," the guy agreed tiredly. "Sorry for questioning you."

"Damn skippy," the colonel noted, then snorted slightly. "Right. So...let us know what he says tomorrow, and I'll see what we can get for you."

"Sir."

- -

"Lu!" Heero bounced where he sat, leaning forward to study her. "How are you? Are you back to desk-duty yet?"

She laughed, setting the papers down she was holding. "I'm your liaison," she explained. "You've had a bad experience or two with our people, and I'm a friend, so I can judge situations...stop answering from your damn tv."

Heero laughed, waving the remote at her. "I don't have to stand up to get it, see?"

She snorted at him, sitting back as she looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Well," Heero sat back again and sighed. "Wufei is curled up on his bed talking to Duo, Quatre's with his sister..."

"Oh, she had her baby, huh?" Lu sat forward. "Boy or girl?"

"Boy," he returned. "Named him Ethan Raberba."

She giggled. "Quatre had to love that."

"Oh, I'm sure...but according to him, she waited for him to get there before having Ethan, so the rest sort of fit."

Lu laughed, thinking about it. "How big was he?"

"Uh...baby...sized?" Heero tilted his head at her.

"How long was the labor?" Lu's voice turned dry.

"Um...long enough. She was going into it when they called Quatre, and he had enough time to fly up and get thrown into scrubs before she started pushing."

"Why did he get scrubs put on?" she asked blankly.

"Um...Wufei's sick and he'd just been on a public transport. I'm sure they'd have shoved a face-mask on him if they could have."

She grinned at that, then tilted her head. "How did things go? She's the first in his family since space to have a baby, isn't she?"

Heero hesitated briefly. "Something like that anyway," he muttered. That was Quatre's story to tell—and since he hadn't before that phone call, Heero doubted his friend would be happy to have it thrown around. "She's fine now, though. With all the shit that's going on, he's probably coming home in a few days—and we're thinking we need to head toward Brazil."

She nodded at that.

"Anyway," he considered a moment. "Matty went to Blake's, Trowa went into private seclusion to mope about being stood up by a seventeen year old...or ready himself for the night's challenge since Blake claims he won't spend the night. Either way..."

The look she gave him cut him off, and he snickered.

"Say that again...in English?"

He laughed delightedly. "Lifon, Matty's little sister, usually comes over all the time, but the last couple days she's been running around with her friends. She let him pick her up from school, but then her friends called. He only had like...a half hour with her and seems to be suffering withdrawals...and Blake is claiming an early work day. If he was smart, he wouldn't come over—but he's going to. That means Trowa's going to have to seduce him before he can leave."

She smacked a hand to her face.

Heero laughed again, thinking. "I have no idea _what_ Jin got up to. He might be in with Wufei...or...not home from work." He blinked a few times. "What time is it again?"

"Seven," Lu noted dryly.

"Oh...so yeah," Heero grinned. "I don't know where he is."

She snickered at that, then shook her head. "So now let's end the personal business," she moved her hand and hit a button. "This is Colonel Lucretzia Noin in contact with Brigadier General Heero Yuy at his place of residence. The date is August twenty-sixth, A.C. 202, and the time is nineteen-hundred hours."

"What is the reason for the call?" Heero asked quietly, wondering why she was recording the data. She usually did when calling, but putting the date and time on it meant it was for...a more public record.

"We have the information you requested about the rebels on the S.S. Illicit."

Heero sat forward.

She smiled demurely at that, laying a few papers out in front of her. "One of our men on the ship—we have three, well, he took a gamble."

"Is that altogether wise?" Heero asked dryly.

"That's an excellent question, Sir."

Heero grinned at that.

"He contacted Timorre's right-hand man..."

"Qingfu?" Heero asked in a quiet voice, feeling his insides shift. Hearing 'Timorre' had brought the woman his complete attention, and...

"No, Sir," Lu returned happily, fluffing her hair. "The man's name is Armend Hoxha. He was a dissident who made his mends with the military proper and transferred to the military of V08742 for a year or so. He transferred back to regular duty in the ESA for a long while before taking an extended leave, citing personal issues. It's believed that he was the contact who bought Illicit from the man who'd owned it before—the tender is un-clarified, the previous owner simply put Illicit in Timorre's name a week before Illicit showed up in Brazil. Hoxha's leave will extend into December, according to his records."

Heero nodded, wondering how the man had been missed in the cleaning...though, V08742 was an L-2 colony. They weren't exactly known for...their steadfast mind-sets. "Make a note to send casuals through L-2 to re-check for possible rebels," Heero said quietly. "If this man..."

"Uh," Lu spoke up quickly, "please don't enact that order. Hoxha was found...wanting...but not rebelling. He was put on a watch list, which is why his leave and the information connected to it are recorded. Hoxha was a comrade of Timorre in the wars and for a time after. Timorre requested a transfer a few years back, though. He noted specifically that a personal relationship had gone awry and he wanted out of the L-2 cluster. Hoxha tried to file a protest, but he didn't get his shit together until too late. I think they had some bad blood for a while. We're looking into when Hoxha was contacted by Timorre, and we'll get that information to you if we manage to find it."

"Very well," Heero muttered, frowning slightly at her. "Proceed."

She nodded at him, fiddling almost nervously with her pencil as she studied the paper. "Well...our man with...with Illicit, he reported that Timorre _was_ captain, and then got voted both President, and Supreme Commander of the Space Ship Illicit."

Heero raised his eyebrows.

"Our man noted he thought it was a joke, then proceeded to share the gossip that Hoxha still seems to have a flame for Timorre, but Timorre seems to be in a relationship with Rin...um, Rin Qingfu."

Heero snorted at that, then nodded.

"According to his story," she went on, looking back up to Heero, "he and Hoxha entered the room, and instead of introducing him, he demanded why Rin was in the captain's chair. He protested that he was suggesting they contact the ESA for assistance, and Rin promptly asked Timorre if he thought the man was a spy. He denied it, but Timorre agreed with Rin's assessment. He proceeded to...prove...that our man was a spy."

"Prove it?" Heero asked blankly.

"The man is young," Lu returned with a shrug. "He'd have had no access to Timorre's history because no one talks about it anymore. In his files, there are several deaths that were suggested he was responsible for, but were never proven...and he'd been marked repeatedly for extreme aggression. He put men in hospitals when they annoyed him, and a lot of that happened by means of a knife. He pulled a knife on our kid, and the kid was freaked out by it—beyond simply having a knife pulled, I mean. An ignorant man would have been put-off, but not overly nervous when they _chose_ to follow someone away from other psychos. He felt like an idiot for it, but Timorre evidently found it hilarious. Timorre stated, and I quote, 'we're not doing anything', indicating the council. He also told our man to join them tomorrow for their meeting—and suggested that not _killing_ him deserved the reward of medical supplies. The colonel granted that. Our man is requesting a week's worth of food supplies for the S.S. Illicit."

Heero stared at her blankly as his mind processed the information.

"For...fifty-five hundred people at least," she persisted.

"Dear-lord," Heero muttered, running his hands down his face. "Do we _have_ that laying around?"

"We do," she agreed, snorting slightly. "Stores in bases in case of emergencies."

"Wonderful," he noted dryly, then gestured. "Gather up a council to consider the pros and cons of providing..."

"Brigadier," Lu said quietly, "Une has already convened a council."

"Then why are you _calling_ me?" he asked in mild exasperation. "You don't want me to issue any orders, but you're telling me about choices that have to be made. _Why_ are you calling?"

"Because you and your comrades are directly involved, Brigadier. All information we receive and can confirm is directly passed on to you. If you have orders, I will relay them, of course, but..."

Heero gave her a dirty look, then rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. If Une has things in hand I won't fuss. Have you heard anything from Brazil?"

"Not yet, Sir," she said quietly, "but we're fairly certain the supplies they stole will only last a few days. That means that any time now..."

"Any time now," he agreed, "we'll be heading for Brazil."

She nodded.

He nodded in return, then looked toward the rooms. "We'll let you know when we decide to do anything," he reassured her. "I'm sure within the next day or so we'll have our conclusion."

"Very well, Sir," she muttered.

"Get us together any information you _have_," he instructed her. "Verified or not. Make sure it's clearly marked and send it to my email. We need any possibilities here, not just facts. That's all."

"Of course, Sir," she muttered, writing on one piece of paper. "We'll also get you the records on Rin, Timorre, and Hoxha."

"I hardly think they're the biggest threat, Colonel," he noted dryly, thinking of Matty's rendition of his time with Timorre.

Timorre hadn't given a shit about Gerrange.

"Be that as it may," she noted, "we'll get you the information."

"Of course," Heero agreed, picking up the remote. "Send it."

"Yes, Sir, good day, Sir." She saluted him, smiled winningly...and disconnected the call.

Heero snorted.

"Who was that?" Duo muttered, moving from the room.

"Noin," Heero returned dryly. "Timorre's found one of our spies and invited him to the official proceedings tomorrow."

Duo blinked at him.

"We'll be getting email soon," Heero added, rising to his feet. "It will have all _sorts_ of interesting information."

- -

2 of 2 updates


	3. Three

update 1 of 2 - thanks for the review, prixilady!!

- -

**Three**

"See?" Heero muttered quietly, pulling the map around so Matty could see it from another angle. "If you're standing on this head, it'll be at this angle." He shifted it slightly as he considered it. "The door is built _into_ the cliff-side."

"I don't think I should know this," Matty whispered, staring at the map. "I think it's dangerous for me to know this."

"Patel and a few of his men will be here in the apartment," Heero reassured him quietly. "You won't be alone. I'm pretty sure there's no one left up here connected to Gerrange at all. You'll be safe...and if something happens..."

"Don't go," Matty whispered, grabbing Heero's wrist and staring into his eyes. "Stay with me..."

"We can't just sit here and watch the world burn to ashes," Heero returned, touching his face. "I know you don't...I don't want to leave you...but I _can't_ take you with me. It goes beyond Quatre's order...beyond that logic at all. If you come, what can I do? I'm going to be there protecting _you_ and that means it's not me protecting _them_...I know...I know you're not happy," he cupped Matty's face gently. "But I _have_ to do this."

"Oh great martyr," Matty grumped, climbing into his arms, then onto his lap. He knew he'd cry before dawn...he'd probably cry himself to sleep.

"I'm only a martyr if I give myself up to die," Heero retorted. "And with you here and you wanting me, I'll come back. I can't leave you, right?"

"But you are," Matty whispered.

"But not for long," Heero retorted. "I don't want to leave, which means I'm not going to play soft with them. I'm gonna make it hard and fast."

Matty pouted at him.

Heero sighed, pulling him tightly into his arms. "Come on, Matty," he whispered. "The five of us went into that colony with what was it? Twenty-thousand men? Something ridiculous like that, and we got you and forty some-odd hostages out uninjured."

"That's not a guarantee," he snapped.

"But it's how we do it," Heero retorted. "I'll come back. I will _come_ back."

Matty clung to him.

"Besides," Heero added, hugging him. "If nothing happens, I'll be back by Friday or Saturday, alright?"

"Right," Matty sighed, holding him close.

- -

"Come here," Trowa muttered, pulling Blake to him. "I _know_ you have an early day tomorrow," he added when the guy started opening his mouth. "But so do I."

"You're just going to check out the Brazil situation," Blake protested, relaxing against his chest. Trowa was standing at the window in the corner. "Why is Matty freaking out?"

"Who said it _that_ way?" Trowa asked blankly. "Have you not _heard_ about the Brazil situation?"

"What do you mean?" Blake protested.

"What do _you_ mean?" Trowa retorted. "This isn't just some recon mission, Blake. We're down there until Gerrange is dead and gone...or just dead."

Blake stared at him.

"Or...back by Friday," Trowa smirked very slightly. "If nothing happens we're back by Friday...but we doubt it'll be that easy. I'm going."

"But..." Blake's heart-rate had sped up. "But..."

"So just let me hold you a while," Trowa muttered, relaxing him against the wall. "It might be a while before we get back."

Blake's arms moved around his neck slowly, uncertainly.

"It's difficult...to say things..." Trowa muttered after a long silence. "It's hard...to...put it to words."

"If you tell me you fell in love with me I'm going to _throw_ you out this window," Blake whispered.

"I love you," Trowa retorted. "But I'm not _madly_ in love with you or anything. Geeze, I have to work myself up to admitting _anything_ to you and you threaten to throw me out the window."

"Stop _teasing_ me," Blake grumbled, sliding his hands into Trowa's hair. With how Matty was acting, the very vague and sketchy details his father had given him...and then what Trowa'd said...

Trowa kissed his throat. "I'm...getting my gundam."

Blake froze.

"I can't just stand back and watch this shit play out anymore," Trowa kissed under his ear. "I'm fighting now."

Blake pulled away to stare into his face.

"I know...what we have isn't what you want," Trowa added, looking down briefly. "But what we have...knowing you're there...right now, I want that. I can't...I know I can't expect you to just put your life on hold for my amusement, but if..." he licked his lips, not sure how to phrase it. "...you know where I am."

"You're a bastard," Blake muttered, pulling Trowa back to him. "Just a bastard."

"With no name."

"What, _Trowa?_" he couldn't help the sarcasm in his voice.

Trowa laughed a little at that, enjoying being held. "Did I ever tell you that I could be as old as twenty-four?"

"You said you were twenty-two," Blake protested. "What do you mean, you could be..."

"Did we ever tell you when our birthdays _were?_"

"You...never did," Blake muttered quietly. "Wufei's is coming up, right? And Quatre's is?"

Trowa nodded. "The rest of us celebrate it on January first."

"So...when is your birthday, then?" the guy gave him a confused look.

Trowa shrugged indifferently. "I couldn't tell you."

Blake blinked at him. "Wait...the rest of you...but...if Quatre and Wufei know..."

"Do you know the key difference between those two and the rest of us?" Trowa cut into the fumbling.

"There _is_ one?" he muttered skeptically.

Trowa chuckled slightly, then kissed at Blake's ear again. "They had parents."

Blake froze.

"Mm," Trowa started kissing at Blake's ear again.

"Don't start that," Blake muttered irritably, shoving his mouth away. "Don't say something like that and then just try for sex..."

"It'll be sex by the end of it anyway," Trowa retorted.

Blake snorted and smacked him.

Trowa laughed a little, then sighed as he thought back. "The real Trowa Barton was a piece of work," he noted. "A right chipper doppelganger of his idiot father and their far-flung notions of right and wrong."

Blake blinked at that, tilting his head a moment. "Barton...Dekim Barton?" he met Trowa's eyes. "Why... I..."

Trowa smiled, looking back out the window. "I watched Trowa Barton get killed," he said quietly. "I saw him shot and nearly got shot for it myself. The doctor...the man who finished my training, he agreed that I could become Trowa Barton—so I did."

Blake blinked at that. "So...what's your real name?"

"I was _called_ Noname," Trowa shrugged. "Most of my life they just called me Noname—but if you ask Cathy, my name _had_ to be Triton."

Blake blinked. "What?"

"I didn't tell you about Cathy?" Trowa demanded, taking a sharp breath as he thought back. "I really haven't told you about Cathy, holy shit..."

"Who's Cathy?" Blake demanded dryly. "The love of your life?"

"Hardly," Trowa retorted. "More like a sister...and I stress _like_. Evidently when she was little she lost a little brother named Triton—and there's enough a resemblance between us that she's decided I have to be him...despite the fact that no one's _really_ sure where I was found. They _think_ I was four...and that's what they told me when they thought I was ten."

"They?"

"I was raised with mercenaries," Trowa noted in amusement, pulling back to study Blake's eyes. "And I really never told you any of that, did I?"

Blake gave him a hurt look.

Trowa sighed, then shrugged. "Come on. I'll tell you about it, we can set the alarm for you so you don't sleep in..."

"You were bound and determined to make me stay the night," Blake noted pointedly, following after. He was still in a state of shock, but he couldn't fight the amusement.

"And I found a way to do it," Trowa flashed him a wicked grin. "So I'll tell you my life story and when you're all teary-eyed with hurt for me, I'll seduce you and both my aims will be met before I leave."

Blake started laughing, smacking at him as they moved into the room.

"Neat how that works, huh?" Trowa added, kissing at his throat again. "And hey, I have one of your work outfits over on the dresser. It's even clean."

Blake laughed even more, allowing himself to be lowered onto the bed as he held on to Trowa's shoulders. "You really are a bastard..."

"We don't know that for sure, though," Trowa protested. "I'm some form of war orphan, yes, but maybe my parents were king and queen of a wealthy oil-field...or maybe I'm the next king of England. You thought about _that?_"

"Hold on while I go find the sword and the stone for you."

Trowa giggled at that, kissing at Blake's throat again, then remembering that he was trying to respect Blake a little more. He made himself comfortable, focusing on the wall between his and Heero's rooms. "I was just with the mercs," he noted quietly. "As far back as I remember, it was them and their women who took care of me...and I knew how to pilot before I ever knew what the word 'orphan' _meant_."

- -

"How can you just _leave_ me here?" Jinli whispered.

"I need you here with Matty," Wufei retorted. "I need you here to go to base...I need you here so I'm not constantly _worrying_ about where you're at. You're being an awfully good wife now, though."

Jinli elbowed him, hard.

Wufei grunted, then laughed a little weakly. "So...consummate?"

For some reason, he was expecting to be shoved off the bed, and he squatted on the floor grinning up at Jinli, who didn't appreciate the joke. He never did. If he were perfectly honest, though, Wufei really _appreciated_ that his friend didn't appreciate his joke. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Jinli ever _agreed_. He doubted that agreement would be any more realistic than his suggestions, but what did you _say_ to that when you made the first comment?

"Oh go to sleep," Jinli grumbled, curling up against the wall. "I don't want to talk to you anymore."

Wufei sighed, climbing back into his spot and sighing as he settled the blankets back around them. "I'm sorry, okay?" he said quietly. "I know you're fully capable of helping us...but knowing that and knowing you're here so I can just tell you what to do...it's sort of a relief. If you were with me, I'd constantly worried because you never went through the military. What we did...back then...the...training. It's not the same as this. The shell-shock alone..."

"I was _in_ the apartment," Jinli snarled, gesturing toward the old apartment. "I was _there_, and I _kept_ those two from getting _thrown_ out the window!"

Wufei settled back, blinking as he thought about that. That whole ordeal had been traumatic in a way—Matty still suffered some effects from it. He, personally, agreed with Jinli's assessment, but he understood Quatre's tactics enough to get that he wouldn't know what to do with Jinli if he had to start coordinating them. There was a timing and a cadence when they worked together, and Jinli would miss a beat.

Not that he'd readily admit to it, especially _to_ Jinli, but he'd be far too worried about his friend getting hurt to work. He couldn't admit that. It would shame Jin, and he was ashamed of himself enough without that.

"Just...don't...don't call me a bitch or something...but...be careful, alright?"

"I know," Wufei muttered quietly. "We should be fine, I mean...Demigod is...well, something else. I should be fine."

"Should being the key word." Jinli sighed, pressing his back into the other. "I lost you once. I don't want to lose you again—I haven't even gotten you to find anyone else."

Wufei blinked at that, then sighed. "Fine, then," he muttered. "When this is done...we'll do your tour."

"What?" Jinli demanded dryly.

"When we take care of Gerrange..."

"Another put-off," Jinli noted darkly.

"'cause obviously, we'll just let him get away now that he's started attacking the populace at large instead of taking a random handful of hostages."

"And how long will it take _now?_"

"If I fucking _knew_ that I'd buy the _fucking_ tickets," Wufei snapped back.

Jin guffawed.

"I'm sorry that my chosen occupation interrupts your plans," Wufei snapped, sitting up to stare down at him.

Jinli narrowed his eyes, looking up at Wufei.

"I'm sorry that little things come up and annoy you, I'm a horrible husband."

Jinli shoved hard at his thigh, obviously irritated.

Wufei still felt _bad_. He was still tired, his lungs still ached, and Jinli was throwing a fit like some kid in a bad mood.

"_Stop fucking **hitting** me!_" he shouted before he could help himself, then ran his hands down his face.

Jinli turned back to the wall, curling up more.

"I don't have anything to say," Wufei noted after a moment. "This is happening, this is how it's happening...and that's all there is to say."

"Maybe I should go back to my room," Jin muttered, shoving himself up.

Wufei grabbed his arm before he could pass, meeting his eyes.

"_Why?_" Jinli hissed, staring into his eyes. "**_Why?_**"

"Because Quatre doesn't know how to use you yet," Wufei said quietly. "Because even though I know you're capable, I'd be distracted by you. Because if you're _here_, and shit goes down _here_, you will _be_ here...because we can't leave Matty alone...because this shit is dangerous, and _we_ do it so no one else _has_ to."

"Pretty speech," Jinli grumped, dropping back down to sit and study him. "You think you're going to die, don't you?"

"What?" Wufei asked blankly.

"Don't give me that look," Jinli retorted irritably, dropping over sideways. "I hate you so much sometimes."

"Your honesty is why I married you," Wufei retorted, dropping over sideways himself.

Jinli snickered slightly.

Wufei grinned, looking toward the outer wall. "Either that or the way you look all wet."

Jinli groaned and smacked him.

Wufei snickered. "No, seriously...you look like a drowned..._don't!_ Don't push me off the bed again!"

- -

"Li...Li..._Lifon_," Taofa pulled her away from Trowa, who she'd been clinging to for a few minutes. "The man needs to breathe."

Lifon clung more to Trowa without responding to her father.

"Shh," Trowa whispered, hugging her tighter. "Come on, we're trying to leave without letting anyone know we're leaving."

"Don't _die_, bastard," she retorted.

"Ha," Blake muttered, moving under Trowa's other arm. "I knew it was true."

Lifon laughed a little at that, studying Trowa's face uncertainly.

"You're both overreacting," Trowa informed them quietly. "Nothing's going to go wrong."

"You don't _know_ that," she retorted.

"Well, let's see," he muttered, lowering his voice. "We were about fifteen, we attacked _earth_, and...well, I'm twenty-two now, aren't I?"

She gave him a pouty look.

"Not only that," he muttered quietly as Blake pulled away, "but we went into a colony _packed_ with these rebels...and got out no problems _with_ Matty _and_ forty-two or so hostages. These _same_ rebels...just like, _twice_ as many of them."

She pouted at him again, then nodded. She hugged him tightly, then pressed her lips under his ear. "Don't _die_," she whispered again.

He nodded.

Lifon sighed and pulled away, looking around a moment before moving over to hug Wufei.

"Don't go," Blake pulled at Trowa's upper arm as he moved for Tim and Jinli. "Rigel, don't _go_..."

Trowa looked back to him, smiling slightly before pulling him into another hug. The younger male had woken Trowa up when he was on the phone talking to his work about coming in late. He'd claimed his car wasn't working and he'd have to borrow a friend's. That friend, however was across town and things just weren't working.

"No, Trowa..." Blake's eyes were earnest and glossy. "I'm serious."

"Shh," Trowa returned, resting a fingertip on his lips. "I'll be fine."

"You _better_ be careful," Matty hissed, clinging tightly to Heero. His eyes were red rimmed, and his cheeks looked...well, like he'd been wiping them a lot. There was no missing that he kept crying.

Poor boy.

Trowa frowned at the younger Asian, then realized something that Heero'd been doing that he figured he probably should. "It'll be okay," he muttered, meeting Blake's eyes again. He'd been interrupting his friend, not letting him work himself up—not reassuring him. Heero was doing a mixture of both. "I promise you I'll be okay, alright?"

"No," Blake pouted at him, clinging to him again. "I don't know what's going _on_ down there, and if you're doing the good-bye talks...and Matty keeps crying and..."

"Shh," Trowa held him closer. "I know it must seem horribly dire like this, but...hey," he pulled back to meet eyes. "We confronted the _world_, and _lived_."

Blake studied his face, his brow wrinkling.

Trowa sighed, kissing his lips again. "I have to go," he said as the woman started talking about boarding procedure. "Take care," he kissed him properly. "It'll be fine...I'll...I'll take you to Pandora's when I get back, right? See? A date," he smiled as he started away. "I take my dates seriously, just ask Matty about Lifon."

Blake smiled slightly at that, then started rubbing hard at his eyes.

Trowa looked around at the people in the area, feeling his chest throb slightly at Blake's distress. He pulled Matty into a hug and kissed his temple, then moved to pull Tim into a hug.

"You better _not_ die," Tim informed him. "I don't want your damn fortune yet."

"You'll have to share it with him anyway," Trowa retorted, indicating Blake. He'd had the thought not long after they'd decided to just go. He'd called his lawyer and gotten the younger man to fill out the paper-work, and got it all faxed up before Blake was going to leave.

"You only replaced _me_ because _he_ puts out."

"Hey, I'm a simple man..." Trowa shrugged.

Tim laughed, rolling his eyes, then stepped back as Jinli hugged Trowa briefly. "You get me drunk enough, I'd probably put out, too."

Trowa started laughing as Jinli pulled away to give Trowa a severely level look—which made the comment all the funnier. Tim and Trowa both laughed...before Blake moved to cling back to Trowa again.

"Come on," Trowa muttered gently, hugging Blake again as the guy ran his fingers up into his hair. "Come on...it'll be _fine_," Trowa nuzzled at Blake. "Take a breath," he whispered—Blake complied. "Let it out, slow...again..."

The woman started calling for the pre-boards to get on.

Trowa kissed Blake in a way that made some bystanders snigger and mutter, then pulled back to smile at him. "Smile for me," he suggested quietly.

Blake smiled slightly, though it was sad, then covered his face with his hands with a silent sob.

Heero met Trowa's eyes, then looked back to Matty. Jin had the Asian male under one arm, and pulled Blake under the other. Both the younger males were crying, and Jinli had a sort of put-upon look...though he was obviously trying to reassure them both. "I'll take care of them," he reassured them. "Go, before they lose it."

"Thanks, sorry," Trowa whispered. "Take care."

Jin nodded, and Trowa turned quickly to the plane. Heero hesitated the briefest moment longer before catching up with Trowa. He swallowed hard, shaking his head...then nearly ran the rest of the way as Matty sobbed. Trowa was in the middle of trying to convince himself he wasn't _that_ bothered by Blake...until he heard it.

He caught up to Heero.

"_Holy_ shit," Trowa muttered as he dropped next to Heero and looked across the aisle to Duo and Wufei—Wufei was grinning his raven's grin. "What the _hell_ just happened?"

"Your boyfriend was upset you were leaving," Duo retorted dryly. "He's just young and understands the extent of the danger."

Trowa gave him a look, then sank down in his seat.

"I couldn't stay out there with Matty like that," Heero took a stressed sort of breath. "Did you feel it?"

Trowa nodded glumly, then looked back to Duo.

"What?" Duo asked as the other passengers started loading. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I think I want to talk to you," Trowa said, sinking even lower in his seat.

"Talk to me?" Duo repeated blankly. "What do you mea..." he fell silent a long moment. "Oh."

"Oh," Trowa echoed sarcastically. "Make me feel _much_ better about it."

"Can't you talk to Fei?" Duo protested, though he sounded amused. "I mean, most of his emotions were 'I'm the best' when he was growing up, but he _did_ feel them...I think."

Wufei started laughing, smacking Duo's arm.

"We don't have to talk about it," Trowa muttered, his spirits sinking even lower.

"What are you doing?" Heero asked blankly, looking over to Duo. "Why are you being like that?"

Trowa blinked himself, looking around to the Japanese man. His expression was utterly perplexed as he stared at Duo.

"I was...teasing him," Duo said carefully. "I didn't..."

"You never tease me," Heero protested. "You said stuff like that makes people feel stupid, so you don't do it—so you're doing it to him?"

Duo laughed weakly, sinking down in his own chair. "Thanks for pointing it out," he noted dryly.

"If you're going to do it to Trowa, you can't expect me to be all proper at you."

Duo sighed, then looked over and nodded to Trowa sincerely. "When we get the chance."

Trowa smiled wryly at him. Heero didn't realize he was afforded special treatment, and he probably wouldn't understand why if they _did_ mention it. The only special treatment they gave _Trowa_ was to leave him alone when he was pissy...and that wasn't really special treatment for _his_ benefit.

"Wanna talk it out to me?" Heero muttered, settling down in his seat as well. "I'm still all muzzy from Matty all last night...I could use something else to try and understand."

Trowa shrugged, looking toward the ceiling. "It's just...Blake...and Li both."

"Both?"

Trowa nodded, considering the buttons above his head. "I mean...when it all started with Blake, it was...a sort of accident. I hadn't _really_ meant to seduce him, but the way he _looks_...and _feels_..."

Heero nodded.

"So I told him there'd be more of that...and...then when he got _with_ Darren," Trowa couldn't fight the disparaging tone his voice took regarding Blake's ex. "I mean...I know what I'm giving him isn't what he _wants_. I'm not _being_ his boyfriend...but I like being with him and stuff...and I missed him. It's been nice to have him back."

"So you like him," Heero noted thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Trowa agreed, smiling slightly to himself. He'd told Blake about growing up and how he'd become a pilot. He'd told him how he'd learned just about everything he knew...the amnesia bit had made the other laugh and proclaim he'd make a good soap opera...but when Trowa'd sort of shrugged it off, Blake had gone very quiet for a while...before clinging to him hard.

"But how _much?_" Heero muttered. "And where does Li fall in?"

"That's the problem," Trowa noted dryly. "She _shouldn't_ fall in."

"Ooh, you avoided my question," Heero smiled slightly at him. "That means you don't want to think about it, right?"

"You're a horrible tattle-tale," Trowa informed him.

Heero blinked at that in confusion a moment before snickering.

"That's part of why I want to talk to Duo," Trowa added with a sigh. "I'm not in love with him, but I don't want to share him or for him to go away...and I want to keep Li, too."

"Which is holly jolly since she's seventeen, impressionable, emotional, and unstable."

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Trowa retorted.

Heero sighed, shifting back in his seat. "I'm not helping, am I?"

"This is about how I expect the conversation to go with Duo," Trowa noted dryly. "You're doing fine."

Heero gave him a look.

"Sorry, not being able to figure it all out makes me grumpy," Trowa shook his head. "And Blake doesn't understand the full danger...and...and I told him."

"Told him?" Heero blinked at that, then nodded. "So he's utterly terrified. I wondered how you got him to stay the night—nice timing. How'd you fuck him?"

"I think they're right in calling me a bastard," Trowa muttered tiredly. He really _had_ seduced Blake. He'd meant to start treating him better, but he'd...

"I heard you talking a long time," Heero muttered quietly. "What were you saying?"

"I'd never told him about being an orphan. I'd never told him...about Cathy...I'd never told him about the mercenaries or the Bartons...none of it." He smiled slightly. "He told me that he liked older guys, so I should claim the twenty-four."

"That's an extreme," Heero protested.

"Yeah, but twenty-two is the minimum."

"It doesn't matter anyway, the rest of us are twenty-two."

Trowa grinned at that and nodded his agreement—that had been part of why he'd taken that age at the time. Well, the others had been claiming eighteen, and he'd felt kinda alone in the 'I have no fucking idea' stage...so he'd decided the peer pressure was worth it.

"So...you were just talking about yourself?" Heero added dryly.

"He deserved to know," Trowa said quietly, moving his head as a larger woman came by with a bag on her arm. It'd nearly hit him. "What if I die? All he'd have known is I have a desk job, a fake name, and I fought in the wars."

Heero nodded at that.

"It was...kind of nice...to talk about it," Trowa added quietly. "I hadn't done that since...with you guys. I even told him stuff I haven't said to you."

"Like what?" Heero asked wryly.

"Like...I kinda remember...my parents."

Heero focused on him intently.

Trowa shrugged, the impression coming again. "Cold," he explained. "A lot of white that I'm pretty sure was snow...and..." he shrugged.

"And?"

And sort of a baby? No. Trowa wasn't going to bother with that part. He had probably had super-imposed what he thought himself to be on the scene.

"I don't know...it's too jumbled for me to make words out of it."

"And you told Blake about it."

Trowa laughed. "Pretty much what I just told you."

Heero grinned at him and shook his head. "So what did he say? What did he think of the _real_ Noname?"

"He was sad," Trowa returned, smiling slightly. "He couldn't imagine not having a mother and father...though I still have no clue where _his_ mother is."

"She ran off on his dad," Heero returned, rolling his eyes. "Found a better man and had more kids...she's a bitch."

Trowa met his eyes.

"Matty told me," Heero explained easily, shrugging. "You wanted to know, so I told you."

Trowa nodded, feeling down. He really needed to have that conversation with Blake.

"So...I'm taking him on a date when we get back," Trowa shoved himself up in his seat without looking around.

"Nice," Heero muttered dryly. "I don't want to be your boyfriend for reals, so we'll just play pretend."

Trowa focused on him, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, I said it," Heero agreed easily. "Now _you_ think about it, and about what happens when he finds a _real_ boyfriend. You should be clued in by now that he's not gonna cheat, so he'll be...maybe...a friend."

"Asshole," Trowa retorted, sinking down in his seat.

"Wow," Duo muttered sidelong to Wufei—they'd been listening as best they could to the others' conversation. "He totally just sucker-punched him with words, and Trowa took it."

"I think they're _your_ friends," Wufei noted happily, rubbing at his chest. "I'll be generous and let you keep them."

Duo snickered. "I get all of'em...even you."

Wufei gave him a look.

Duo laughed again, then sighed and dropped backwards. "I can't wait for Quatre to get back."

"Holy shit," Wufei noted dryly, looking out the window. "You actually managed to go ten minutes without mentioning him."

Duo smacked him in the arm.


	4. Four

update 2 of 2

- -

**Four**

"I'm so fucking _hungry_," Duo muttered as they moved off the plane, looking around the port. "Food here or there?"

"There," Heero muttered tiredly, looking around. "I want to get to our quarters and call Matty."

"You talked to him most of the way here," Wufei protested.

"I need to call Blake," Trowa muttered, rubbing at his face. "And I don't want to be here longer than I have to. I'm leaving my phone," he added, rubbing at his face. "I'll pick up a throw-away, but it won't have Pax or anything on it...but I can toss that out, too."

They nodded, looking around to each other.

It was weird to think that Trowa was driving a couple hours down the coast to get his gundam.

"Why don't we go talk," Duo suggested, looking around to him. "You won't come back into town during daylight anyway, so a few more hours here won't hurt."

"It shouldn't take that long," Trowa muttered through gritted teeth, then shrugged and nodded. He was actually more dreading the talk with Duo that hoping for it to help. He had been sort of relieved to admit the need, but that was before Heero'd made his lovely comment at the start of the flight. Heero _was_ awfully stressed about leaving Matty like that. He'd cemented that notion firmly by calling a half hour after they left.

Trowa hadn't called Blake, and hadn't gotten any texts about it, either.

They moved through the port as Wufei lagged more and more behind. He was barely _with_ their group when Trowa turned to look at him.

"Carry me," Wufei suggested as the others stopped as well, moving up to lean against Trowa. "I think my lungs decided to stop giving me oxygen."

"CPR?" Trowa offered helpfully, though he did take Wufei's weight.

"Try it and I'll skewer you."

"How do you know that's not what he wants?" Duo muttered sidelong, more to Heero.

"Quatre needs to come back and screw him," Wufei muttered tiredly, focusing on his breathing.

"Would that _actually_ help?" Trowa returned quietly, listening to the sound of the other's chest. "I know when I've gone a while without, I get worse when I get it."

Wufei laughed weakly at that.

"Are you okay?" Heero muttered, moving closer.

"You need to inhale," Trowa said quietly. "It'll hurt, I think, but you need to inhale."

"It hurts," Wufei whimpered slightly.

"Try?" Trowa offered. "You're not taking very deep breaths...you're gonna like...pass out if you're not careful."

Wufei took a few more of his panted breaths, then started to inhale slowly. The noise he made was a strange one, but there was no mistaking the pain in it.

"We _have_ to get him something to numb that shit," Duo muttered, pulling out his phone. "I think one of those stupid nebulizers, the little ones? I don't think he needs a full dose of medication even, just something to numb his lungs so he can _breathe_."

Wufei gasped the breath out, leaning against Trowa again. He dug his fingers into Trowa's forearm with the next breath.

"I hate to...to...interrupt," Trowa muttered, gritting his own teeth. "But I seem to have a taste for...pain...and..."

Wufei started laughing helplessly, pressing his face into Trowa's upper arm.

"What the hell did you _do_ to your _lungs_?" Heero demanded skeptically. "How in the _hell_ did you get _bronchitis_?"

"Someone at work had it and gave it to someone else..."

"Bronchitis itself isn't contagious," Trowa noted. "Right?" he added to Duo.

Duo waved him away.

"Not _that_, stupid," Wufei muttered through pants. "That _hurts_..."

"We're at the gate, and Chang needs a portable nebulizer," Duo informed whoever he called. "It would normally take us ten minutes to get to the front of this monster, but I think it'll take longer. Have a doctor check Chang's medical files and get whatever he needs to the front. Oh, he needs something _numbing_, right? Thanks," Duo muttered after a moment, then closed the phone and looked around.

"I guess we _could_ carry him," Heero muttered. "He's not _too_ big, and..."

"I can _walk_," Wufei grumped at him, still holding Trowa's arm as they started to move. "You may not realize it, but I _am_ better."

"You're right," Trowa agreed. "We hadn't realized it."

Wufei sniffed at him, then forced another breath...that snapped into a gasp. Wufei croaked slightly, turning to press his face back into Trowa's shoulder.

"He doesn't have allergies does he?" Trowa muttered to Duo as the thought occurred to him. "It may be something in the air."

"Pick him up," Duo gestured vaguely. "If he keeps this up he'll make himself pass out and lose anything _like_ dignity."

Trowa grinned at that, turning slightly and scooping his friend up by the legs. Aside from Wufei not floundering to be lifted like that, he was startled at how light the Asian really _was_. It made him a little worried, too. They _hadn't_ realized he'd gotten sick until it turned into bronchitis. How long had it been?

Moving through the port carrying Fei went smoother than he'd expected. The only ones who really stared were the small children, and people got out of the way. He was also taken aback that Wufei _allowed_ it.

"Oi," Duo muttered as they finally neared the front. He indicated the main entrance...and Trowa realized there were soldiers there.

"What?" Wufei muttered, turning his head to look at them, then sighed and regained his feet as Trowa lowered him. He took a moment to straighten his hair, then pushed away from Trowa completely.

"If you're in this condition when shit goes down," Heero said quietly, "I'm flying it."

Wufei made a dismissive and irritated gesture at that, starting forward.

"We got the portable nebulizer as you ordered, sir," one soldier muttered, moving forward with the handful of equipment. "I'm a clinic nurse," he added, focusing on Wufei and moving to him with the stuff. "Do you need me to explain this, sir?"

"Just put the damn medication in it and give it to me," Wufei returned tiredly.

The man's eyes covered Wufei's face before he frowned, then focused on the stuff he held. He closed the small tank and passed the mask back to Wufei. It was obvious he was about to hook it around Wufei's head—it had a band for that—but Wufei took it from him and pressed the mask to his face.

"Um...your parcels arrived an hour ago," one of the other soldiers noted quietly. "We were told to report the items are in good repair."

"If you _salute_," Duo warned pointedly to a younger male who looked about to freak out.

"I'm sorry, sir," the guy squeaked, cramming his hands into his pockets.

"Our luggage was with the parcels," Duo noted, looking back to the main officer. "We can go now."

"I need to check your stats," the nurse informed Wufei.

"Kiss my what?" Wufei retorted.

"As a colonel level airmen," the guy retorted, "denying me defers the case to your espoused, and I honestly am not above calling him _myself_."

"How the _fuck_ do you know about Jin?" Wufei demanded irritably as they moved to climb into the waiting van. "Check my stats, fuckin' nebulizer..." the grumbles faded to inaudible as the others followed him.

Trowa had a feeling that 'getting carried through a port' was in his list of complaints, but they were all pretending that hadn't happened.

"God this _burns_," Wufei pulled the face-plate away, gasping a few times. His lips compressed, but he didn't show any other signs of the extent of the pain.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you," the nurse made an irritated face. "I'm...it's...the medication was picked by the doctor who reviewed your case. It will burn right-off, but after that, it'll fade away and numb. It will also reduce the inflammation without interacting with the amoxicillin or steroid. It's got a mild dose of Remalene in it as well. Remalene is known to knock people on their ass, but the dose is far below that."

"Wonderful," Wufei muttered, moving to lean against Trowa's arm...and curl up against him. "Even low doses of Remalene knock me on my ass."

Trowa glanced very briefly at Duo, then moved to accommodate his friend. Wufei did that sort of thing with Jinli all the time, but not usually with anyone else—granted, Wufei was straight and slept with Jinli all the time.

So did their espousal cover that?

Trowa snickered.

"What?" Wufei asked darkly.

"Our nurse looks about to call Jin," he said quietly. "You might give him a wrist so he can satisfy himself."

"That...sounded...dirty," Duo said almost hesitantly. "You know that don't you? Was _that_ why you snickered?"

Trowa laughed at that and gave him a look—Wufei was right, Quatre did need to show up.

"How would he satisfy himself with a _wrist_?" Heero muttered, staring out the window.

The nurse started laughing helplessly, accepting the hand Wufei offered him...but strangely, didn't seem about to argue.

- -

"This is weird," Trowa whispered, looking sidelong to Duo. Heero'd called Matty and talked a long while before falling asleep on one of the beds in the room. There were four total. One was a double, and the rest were supposed to be singles. Trowa was on the one he intended to sleep on—and Wufei was curled up between him and the wall, sleeping heavily.

"I know," Duo muttered quietly, considering the Asian male as he draped a spare blanket over him.

Wufei cracked his eyes open very briefly and smiled as his hand moved from clutching the side of Trowa's shirt to pulling the blanket down for a clutch.

"I think it's because Jin," Duo added, sitting at Trowa's feet and situating the blanket properly around the other. "I don't know why, but they touch a _lot_."

Trowa nodded, resisting his urge to stroke Wufei's hair...until he realized that Wufei normally slept with it down. He claimed the band at the back of his neck was a disturbance. He grinned slightly, then leaned down and carefully pulled the elastic out...and got snuggled for it.

He blinked in mild alarm at that before looking up to Duo.

"If you ask me what's wrong with him," Duo noted dryly, "I will _smack_ you."

Trowa snickered resting an arm on Wufei's shoulder and shaking his head. "It's so beyond weird."

"You know, when me and Heero kept teasing about making you come to our side...we didn't think you'd _do_ it."

"Don't flatter yourself," Trowa retorted. "I don't notice _guys_, I notice _Blake_."

"And Matty," Duo retorted.

"And Matty," Trowa made a face. "Shut-up with that before Heero attacks me."

Duo grinned at that, tilting his head. "You were the one saying you wanted to talk."

Trowa groaned slightly, sinking where he sat as he thought. "I don't think I'm in love with him."

"Promising start," Duo noted dryly, laying over sideways on the bed. "Somehow, though, I'm not surprised. Let's get the doctor patient routine started out right. Why don't you tell me what you _know_ you feel about him, huh?"

"Guilt," Trowa retorted.

Duo rolled his eyes. "Aside from lust, guilt, and not-love."

Trowa snorted at that, then decided he may as well give in. He'd never had a Duo-talk, but he knew both Wufei and Quatre _had_.

"I think about him all the time," he muttered with a sigh. "And I try to impress him."

"Classic signs of like," Duo agreed.

"If you're going to be an ass," Trowa noted, "I won't bother. Heero hears me out."

"Oh, calm down," Duo grumped at him. "You think it's weird that Fei's curled up to you, but you don't know what it's like for me to be talking to _you_ about emotions. You don't have them, you know. You have _none_."

Trowa laughed at that and kicked at him lightly. "Ass."

- -

It was cold.

Wufei reached out for Trowa, trying to figure out how the other had disappeared on such a little bed...and found nothing. He pushed himself up from the mattress, looking around to see Heero curled up on a single bed...and an empty room.

His lungs were starting to hurt—they'd been mercifully numb when he'd fallen asleep. What time was it?

He groaned as he moved his chest around to lay on his back and look at the watch.

It'd been noon in LA, but three in Peru when they'd arrived. That meant he'd had the medication around three-fifteen...and he was only supposed to take it once every four hours.

That was lovely.

So had Trowa left? He couldn't have left _already_. It was barely five. Granted, he was taking a bus to the city near the gundams. Since he was by himself...well, Duo _had_ been talking about driving out there with him, right?

Wufei swung his legs around, blinking at his feet as he realized he'd had his boots on.

Okay...so Trowa had taken his boots off for him...

His hair fell forward, fanning around his face.

Wufei snorted.

"Okay, I'll admit I'm awake," Heero grumbled, rolling to look at him. "Why do you want me to?"

"I did _not_ want you to," Wufei retorted, looking around blankly. "Where are they?"

"Trowa left like, twenty minutes ago," Heero grumbled, pushing himself up as well. "Why are you huffing and puffing if you don't want me awake?"

"I _wanted_ to keep Trowa close because he's warm," Wufei retorted before he thought about it. "The point is moot. Where did Duo go? Did he go with Tro?"

"I haven't a clue," Heero returned, running his hands through his hair as he stretched. "That was a nice little nap...he went out with Trowa, but they'd have messaged us if he'd decided to go."

Wufei nodded, then frowned.

"Huh?"

"My hair-tie isn't here," he explained, starting to dig through the blankets. He grumbled to himself as he dug into his pockets, then moved to look at the floor.

"Where'd you put it, genius?" Heero shifted to pull his boots on.

"_I_ put it in my hair...this morning, after my shower."

Heero blinked at him.

"I also fell asleep with my boots on," Wufei added, extending one foot so Heero could see his sock.

"Duo probably has it, then," Heero muttered, rising and stretching. "I refuse to wear my uniform."

"I refuse to wear _mine_," Wufei retorted, sliding his feet into his boots. They were placed at the end of the bed. "Where the _hell_ is my hair-tie?"

"I'm sure Duo has it," Heero protested. "Calm down...how are your lungs?"

"Sore," Wufei retorted. "And I have two more hours before I'm supposed to take more. I think that's one of the reasons I woke up. Deepest sleep I've got in days...and I was snuggled against Trowa." He made a face.

Heero laughed at that a little, moving to pull him up off the bed by his wrist. "Let's go."

"I want my damn..."

"Wufei," Heero cut him off in a pointedly happy tone, "Duo."

Wufei grunted in response, grabbing the nebulizer and a couple of the vials of the medication from the nightstand—Heero was still pulling him. He clipped the nebulizer to his belt, then tucked the vials into his pocket as they moved into the hall.

At the very least, if Duo didn't have the tie, the packs were fairly cheap.

- -

"So this checks out," Duo muttered, kicking at a part on Deathsycthe. "That makes me good...Wufei? You breathing?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Wufei grumbled. "It's fine, too."

"You sure?" Duo asked curiously as the soldiers focused toward the other. They were in the military hangar looking their machines over with some of the best mechanics the ESA had to offer.

It was sort of fun, really, because they were people Duo could _argue_ with.

"I'm just letting these guys play," he noted, gesturing to the group of soldiers that were inspecting the bonds between the two machines Demigod was made of...or was it four? Two, four...six...eight...who do we appreciate?

Duo bit his lip to keep from grinning—the commentary was far too _stupid_ for anyone to call him on. He didn't want to admit that an actual thought-process changed to a child's chant.

"Oi," Duo muttered after Wufei disappeared again. "Time."

"You're such a good fucking wife," Wufei retorted irritably, then started muttering to his crew.

"You want me to play wife?" Duo demanded. "We got a day before Quatre gets back, what he don't know don't hurt him."

The soldiers looked up to Duo nervously as Wufei started laughing.

"Um...he's happy...in his relationship," Duo noted to the men. "So'm I, but he left it wide open and seems to forget that I'm _openly bi_."

"Kiss my what?" Wufei demanded, rounding from where he was standing on the shoulder to glare down at Duo.

"I'm trying to convince them neither of us would cheat," Duo complained. "Don't ask me questions when you know what I'll say and it's counter-productive."

Wufei started laughing, starting to mess with the little nebulizer.

"See? He moved on," Duo grinned at the men. "So...who wants to look at his innards?" he indicated the machine.

"Can we?" one of them asked, eyes glowing. "You'll let us get in and look around?"

"No tools, no cameras, and if anything gets fucked I will personally skin you _all_ alive, but yes."

They all started muttering excitedly.

"There's a catch," Duo protested as they started for the machine. "We pick _one_ area, and that's what you _all_ can look at. I'm not letting you tear up my weapon."

"Didn't you just refer to it as male?" one of the women asked blankly. "Why refer to it as a weapon if you give it a personality?"

"You don't know _nearly_ enough about AI if you're asking me that," he retorted, moving to sit on the walk-way that was chest-high. "I'm trying to _refrain_ from letting _it_ have a personality again."

There was a group acknowledgment to the words before they all went back to talking—there were a few too many interesting things in a gundam. Duo raised his eyes to look at the mecha's face. He'd just as soon never go over it all again, but telling them they could look inside the thing had given them all a sexual-fucking-thrill.

He almost wished something would happen so he could get away from the people who were all older than him and attempting to please him. It was like a whole bunch of teacher's pets waiting to _get_ pet...a pat on the head to make them glow.

"Duo?" Wufei muttered. He'd been watching his friend had slumped after sitting, a slow rounding of the shoulders. He put the mask back over his face until the other pilot looked at him. "Call Quatre," he suggested. "Tell him you made a few dumb jokes in public so he's forewarned if anyone decides to talk to him."

Duo smiled back at him, his eyes brightening before he moved to pull out his phone.

- -

Trowa stared down the cliff-side at the dark ocean breaking against the dark stone. The sound of that and the wind was all he could hear, at least at hand. In the distance, he could hear seagulls or something.

"No time like the present," he muttered to the distant ocean, turning back to the port-hole he'd already opened. Locals believed the area was haunted, and it had scared them enough that they didn't live close.

Actually, on his walk out to that cliff-side, no cars had passed him—and that was quite the walk. Well, it would have been if he walked it. Walking got boring pretty quick when there were _miles_ to cover, so he'd had himself a nice jog.

He almost wished he'd have remembered a rope, but that would have brought him more notice on the...oh look at that.

There was a part inside of Trowa that wanted to complain about the rope dangling down into the pit. Quatre, Heero, _and_ Duo had come out here before, and when they'd left the gundams initially, they had _not_ left a rope. It was secured to the edge of the pit, at least, not the surrounding rocks. If it had been secured to the rocks, it would have been visible.

Trowa lowered himself carefully into the hole, letting the rope take his weight gingerly. It was more because he wasn't harnessed than anything else. It was hard to hang suspended like that and pull the cover back over the hole, but well...he wasn't leaving through _that_ exit.

Fiddling in the dark wasn't really fun, but he hadn't wanted to chance a light above-ground. Hanging from a rope suspended in midair, surrounded by utter darkness didn't strike him as the time to dig out his headlamp either.

How far was it to the platform? Twenty feet? Or had it been ten?

He could smell...oil. Mechanics. That was a familiar scent, and remarkably clean...and yes. That was a person's scent. Who the hell's scent did he associate with motor-oil? He'd been raised and trained by _men_, not one man. No one particularly stuck out in his thoughts, so whose scent was _that_?

He didn't exactly have a lot more to think about as he lowered himself carefully hand-under-hand down the rope. If he'd been smart, he'd have brought gloves, but evidently that title escaped him, because if he'd been _smart_, he'd have put the damn head-lamp on above ground, closed the hole, then flicked it on before dropping slowly into _nothing_.

Hell couldn't even be that _empty_.

His feet hit something, and he extended one foot carefully to be sure it wasn't some anomaly. The guys had told him the gundams had all been shifted by presumably earthquakes. Earthquakes could have knocked something out of line in the...okay. That extended more than three feet in each direction.

He let himself off the rope, half expecting to just start falling...and didn't.

Okay, step one done in the dark without dying. Good job, idiot.

Trowa started digging in his cargo jeans until he found the headlamp...and flicked it on. He looked around, being sure he was genuinely where he thought he'd be, then looked up and yanked the rope. It took him two flicks to make it come off, and he stepped back as it slithered through the darkness to land in a random pile of loops near him.

Where was...

The headlamp, which he'd placed on his head, illuminated the stairs, and he turned to go to those. From there, he'd run back and flick on the generator.

Something dark caught his eye, and he glanced down at the hair-tie around his wrist. It made him grin as he pulled it off, because he knew for a fact that it'd drive Wufei nuts not to _have_ that when he woke up from his little nap. He hadn't meant to keep it, but his little talk with Duo had distracted him—the tie had been something to fiddle with and focus on.

Trowa shook his head, looking to Sandrock. Quatre hadn't picked it up from where it'd fallen. That looked eerie, like the machine was falling away from a person on the platform...and then he saw Heavyarms

He stopped in the middle of the stairs, looking at his machine...kneeling.

He would _never_ kneel.

Trowa tsked in annoyance, then started down the stairs.

He would **_never_** kneel.

- -

Wufei opened his eyes, wishing his lungs would stop hurting...and not start again. It was such a novel concept—and annoying to have to use the drugs. At least he was getting _sleep_. He sort of felt bad for his friends, having to deal with him like that. Not to mention having to hold him down to give him a shot—that was just childish.

Wufei made a face, pressing himself up onto one elbow and looking at the clock. It said it was eleven, and he'd needed the next dose at ten.

That was sort of exciting.

It _wasn't_ exciting that eleven in Peru was the same as eight in LA. He wouldn't be sleeping back home without the influence of the Remalene.

It didn't take long before he had the nebulizer set up, and he sighed, realizing he wasn't alone in the room. Duo and Heero were both pretending to sleep.

He sighed, moving across the room and into the hall. He put the strap around his head, then dropped his weight against the wall, crossing his arms.

The thing was that he was _tired_. Breathing in that chemical no longer burned, it had sort of the second time he'd taken it. The relief in his lungs was stupid...

He blinked at a noise, looking up...and blinking at Trowa.

"Sorry," Trowa muttered, offering him a hair-tie. "It stayed on my wrist when I pulled it out." He yawned, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "I'm damn tired. I'm going to bed."

Wufei watched him go, blinking at the hair-tie. His friend left the smell of motor-oil behind him...but it was a mix that was uniquely Trowa.

The Chinese man slid the band around his own wrist, then clicked the nebulizer off. He pulled it off his head and took a long slow breath.

It was nice not to hurt.

He moved back into the room, dropping the machine quietly on his nightstand, then looked around as Trowa started to make himself comfortable.

Wufei hesitated a brief moment, then moved across the room to climb over his friend. He settled down, appreciating the familiarity of the scent as he realized he was about to pass out again—well, not _really_ pass out. He was just...really...tired.

He yawned, grabbing a handful of Trowa's shirt as Trowa settled down himself.

Man...he was tired.


	5. Five

1 of 2

- -

**Five**

The only problem with flying giant humanoid robots was that they were kind of easy to spot.

Granted, the cloak helped radars from detecting anything, but human eyes worked just as well—and Gerrange's crew'd had experiences with Deathscythe and Demigod before.

Duo snarled as he moved is machine as quickly as he could to the left.

"Bastards," Wufei grumbled, leaning down...and knocking over one of their vehicles. The time it had taken them to get from the city they'd been in—Borde del Rio, had given the men time to head back for their base. Completely aside from catching up at all, they'd _found_ the road-side bombs the men were leaving behind and set most of them off.

They'd gotten the call of another late-night raid on some poor random city, and taken off from the city in the borderlands of Peru. Trowa was behind them a ways, because he'd been closing Heavyarms up when they'd received the alarm.

"I'm dropping my cloak," Wufei grumbled, hitting a few buttons. "The heat is getting too high..."

Duo hit his own button.

They were going to catch hell for this. Heavyarms _and_ Deathscythe were supposed to be so much melted space-metal. It wouldn't take long for _all_ the people to demanded where the remaining three were—and he doubted anyone would believe that Shenlong had been destroyed.

It didn't matter, though, because they had to do what they had to do, and attacking stores for food was _not_ a proper way to act.

Another large shot came flying at Deathscythe, and Duo dodged that as well. He moved in to take out one of their vehicles, but whoever was shooting was definitely a bastard and shot again.

"You're getting too far to the left!" Heero snapped. "You're separating!"

"Shit," Duo muttered, starting right again...and getting shot at again.

"Maybe _they_ are separating us," Wufei noted grimly. "And if that's the case, I'm going to take a moment to teach them better manners."

Duo wanted to respond to that, but didn't really have much to say.

"Duo?" Heero demanded. He was in a humvee behind them.

"Busy," Duo snapped back. "Deathscythe wasn't meant to be a dancer..."

"Doin' a pretty good job of it so far," Wufei retorted.

"Haha!" Duo decided to stop trying to use the hands, initiating the scythe.

He could _see_ the men fleeing.

He snickered slightly...and swiped at a vehicle.

"Take _out_ the launcher!" Heero snapped at them both.

Duo snarled something back at him that probably made even less sense than he thought, and launched forward...as his machine slammed back from the blow.

Well, one couldn't penetrate, right?

He moved again, getting nailed a second time—but at this point, there was nothing left to do but take it _out_.

"Fuck!" Wufei snarled as Demigod fell backwards. "_Fuck!_"

"Wufei!" Duo swiped the rocket-launcher as his screens zeroed in on the multiple enemies around him...behind him.

"It's not responding!" Wufei snarled. "It's not..."

Demigod landed hard on the ground.

Oh _hell_ no!

Duo ignored the men shooting at him and went for the ones who thought to swarm the other machine. It didn't take him long to clear them away, and Wufei used that time to maneuver his machine up.

"_Retreat_," Heero ordered darkly. "Get out of there before they exploit this..."

Duo moved in front of Demigod as Wufei cursed and snarled.

The machine _groaned_ as it started to take a step.

"Fly it!" Duo ordered. "Just get out of here!"

There was a lot more cursing involved in the next few moments before Demigod took to the air like a half-dead...flying...insect.

"I _hate_ prototypes!" Wufei snarled as the machine started to splutter.

"Just _go!_" Duo didn't want to hear anything as he watched the path for more enemies. They'd _been_ fleeing, but that noise from Demigod and the fact that they were going in the opposite direction would leave an impression.

They limped back along the way they'd come before Wufei started snarling...

"And there they are!" Duo snapped. "What are you doing, Chang?"

"I'm trying to keep it _flying_, Maxwell," Wufei snapped back. "Any brilliant ideas? I'd love one!" He cried out as something popped...and his machine launched...to the left.

They lost radio contact.

Duo started snarling, as the machine landed in the trees. He considered his options briefly as Heero shouted almost incoherently at...probably him. He decided to turn his shield back on instead of chasing after the other machine. There wouldn't be much he could do, and his gundam would definitely be spotted above the tree-line. The other machine was on its last leg anyway, and Trowa wasn't far behind.

Duo took off into the trees, going in low and dropping to the ground. The trees weren't tall enough to hide Deathscythe, but he went behind a low hill. "I've got my radio," he snapped. "I'm going after him on foot!"

"Watch yourself, Maxwell," Heero snapped. "How far away were the enemies?"

"I should be able to make it across the road before they get up here," Duo snapped back.

Heero started bitching about bad plans, but Duo ignored that. He jumped out of his cockpit, wishing he had more than his pistol. That pistol could do damage, but one pistol against _how_ many humvees? His last count had been sixteen.

He had no idea how many men there were per machine...and didn't really intend to find out.

He left the communications on inside the machine—that way his comrades would be able to find it digitally, but the other men would have to flounder through the jungle to spot it—at least until the shield overheated.

If he had _any_ luck what-so-ever, he'd be back to it before or as the shield turned off.

Unfortunately, his last visual on the enemies had been too far behind. As he came up onto the road...he had to _dive_ for the other side, because they were shooting at him.

He was going to hear about this from here to November!

He darted through the jungle as best he could. Without anything to do but run and pray, he found himself wondering if 'under eighty feet of jungle' was even an _apt_ measurement. Those trees were a hundred feet tall...at _least_...

"_Fuck!_" he snarled as a shock tore through his lower-leg.

"Duo?" Trowa sounded alarmed.

"Grazed my leg," Duo returned, panting as his head cleared a little. He turned, climbing up onto his feet...then rolled to his left as shots peppered the area to his right.

He could hear them...they were gaining on him...and could obviously see him.

"Tell Quatre I love him," he instructed his friends.

"Duo!" Heero protested.

"I love you...I do," Duo returned, yanking the headset off...and crushing it in his hand. If he let them get it, they'd have a lock on his friends, Deathscythe, and Demigod when it came back online.

Too close...he had to do _something_ with the remains...

What could one find under eighty feet of jungle?

He threw the thing as far as he could, watching it arch away into the trees...hit a branch...and fall out of sight.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, staring at it longingly...then opened the Pax options.

Emergency fry.

You had to _love_ Pan.

He killed the phone. It was all backed up on his laptop anyway, all he'd have to do was get a new one...Quatre'd _love_ that...

What else did he have?

He darted off into the trees, wondering how likely one was to find a venomous reptile on a blind-run. He didn't even _want_ to find Wufei...he just needed _away_.

- -

Heavyarms landed, behind Wufei, and he glanced back at the machine irritably. It was _hot_ out, and he had to figure out what the _hell_ had happened to the link between his power source and both halves of the machine—because he'd be _damned_ if he knew which one had fucked up.

"Please tell me Duo's here," Trowa muttered, the hatch opening and his head popping out.

"Here?" Wufei turned to stare up at Trowa in horror, then turned and _sprinted_ for the forest.

- -

"Well, hello..."

Duo blinked up at the familiar face above him blankly a long time, realizing he'd been concussed. He could feel the strange sensation through his head...all the way down to his stomach.

"Look...what...the cat...dragged in..." Gerrange's hand was tracing his jaw-line almost lovingly.

"Look, Marsh," Duo grumbled, closing his eyes. "I told you, I don't wanna fuck you."

His head _reeled_.

Gerrange laughed coldly, petting his face again. "I was told," he said quietly, "that you were _running_ in the jungle, but you had your gundam...so I'm a little confused..."

"I'm a little concussed," Duo retorted, trying to focus through the sickening sensation. "Can we talk about this later?" He pulled at his arms...and felt cuffs around his wrists, heard the chain clink against the metal chair he was on.

Wow...this seemed familiar, didn't it?

He smirked.

"I'm so glad you're happy," Gerrange purred. "Because you're going to be with me a while..."

"Quatre's _so_ going to kill you," Duo muttered, raising his eyes to meet the other man's. "He's going to bleed you _dry_."

When the pain of _that_ blow receded, Duo could only groan, his stomach churning and his head reeling.

"Unfortunately for you," Gerrange muttered, kneeling down in front of him. "We want you alive...so we're going to keep you awake a while, huh? Wouldn't do for you to fall asleep...who knows when you'd wake up then? Or even _if_, huh?"

Duo stared at the man's face a long moment as his head pounded.

He had a feeling he'd just entered hell...and the devil himself was there to play.

- -

"We assume Gerrange got him," Heero summed up quietly, rubbing at his face. "Which means we're going to have to take the base on."

Matty started crying, folding forward to cover his face.

"I'm coming down there," Jinli snapped, rising to his feet. "I can't sit here if Duo's been grabbed...you need another man."

"We need you _there_," Heero snapped.

"_Bullshit!_" Jinli snarled back. "We were only left behind so _we_ weren't grabbed!"

Heero blinked at him.

"Yeah, Wufei said," Jinli spat the words, turning to look at Blake. "You hear him out. I'm getting our tickets."

"I don't have enough money to..." Blake started.

"I'm using Fei's," Jinli spat...and disappeared.

"You can't come down here!" Heero protested. "You can't..."

"I think my dad could handle anything that happened here," Blake muttered quietly, studying Heero's face. "I honestly think he can...him and Patel."

Patel, who was standing off to one side with his arms crossed, nodded his head in acknowledgement of the compliment.

"You guys _can't_ come..." Heero was at a loss. "I..."

"If you order it," Patel said quietly.

"Shut-up," Blake snapped.

"You're not espoused of any of them," Patel retorted. "I don't have to obey you...I _have_ to obey _him_," he indicated the screen.

Heero was obviously torn, looking to Matty again before looking around behind him. "I told you not to come," he informed them...and ended the call.

Patel snorted.

"Come on," Blake suggested to Matty. "We need to get packed."

"What _use_ will we be?" Matty whispered back.

"If Jinli is leaving," Blake spat back, "do you intend to stay behind?" He pulled out his phone as he headed for Trowa's room—he'd been staying in the apartment and had a bunch of his clothes there. Trowa had a duffel-bag in his closet.

He wasn't too surprised to hear Matty move into his and Heero's room.

He had no idea what they'd do once they got to Peru...but _being_ there would be a little easier than being in LA.

It was all he could do.

- -

Quatre moved off the ship and into Heero's waiting arms, wordless. He clung to Heero for an eternity, not sure what he was feeling, just glad to _have_ his friend at hand.

They _had_ to find Duo...but before they could do that, they had to gather _enough_ forces to do it...and they couldn't fully trust the Brazilian officials in the area of the base, because they'd obviously let Gerrange set up shop.

It wasn't good...at all.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Quatre muttered, wondering about the distance between his words and his mind...between him and Heero. "I'm...I'm okay."

"We'll get him back, Quatre," Heero said firmly. "It'll just take a few days..."

"Or one shot between the eyes to kill him," Quatre returned quietly.

Heero blinked at him.

"He's far too valuable," Wufei muttered, moving up to take Quatre from Heero. "Gerrange is far too fond of hostages to get rid of him at this stage in the game."

"But he knows I'll kill him," Quatre met Wufei's eyes. "He knows that I'm going to hunt him down and tear him apart. He's got nothing left to lose now...he gave it all away."

Wufei blinked at him.

Quatre smiled slightly at that and hugged the man, then turned to Trowa.

"Blake, Jinli, and Matty are coming," Heero said quietly, studying the man.

"Ooh, that will be nice," Quatre returned, looking back to Heero. "We can get Jin to show us exactly what he means by...under...eighty feet of jungle." He blinked a few times. "That's what he says, right?"

"Since I've been sick," Wufei lied, worried, "the doctors want to check you out, too. They did everyone else already...I think they might want you to take a pill."

"That's fine," Quatre muttered, focusing toward the forest. "We can do that now."

"How's Fasiha? And Ethan?"

"Ethan was just born," Quatre smiled fondly at Wufei again. "He's nothing but hungry or sleeping."

"And your sister?"

"Hungry or sleeping," Quatre started laughing, then looked back toward the jungle. "How far are we from that base?"

"Why?"

"Because we're not far from Sandrock," Quatre explained, turning to look back at Wufei with a slightly perplexed expression on his face. "I'm going to kill Marsh."

"You said you didn't want to give him any power," Trowa cut that off quickly. "We can..."

Quatre laughed slightly at that, meeting Trowa's eyes and shaking his head. "That was before they took Duo...same thing that happened with you. You weren't going to use Heavyarms until they nearly killed Tim...you can't tell me I can't, not now."

"I can and I will," Trowa stated firmly. "Remember? The AI of your machine?"

"It'll know how to help me get Duo," Quatre reassured him, looking back to the forest.

"Let's...go see the doctor," Wufei suggested quietly, pulling at Quatre's arms. "We can talk more after that."

Quatre didn't say anything, he just followed along after.

Heero and Trowa exchanged a nervous look.

Sandrock needed to stay off, and with what Quatre was saying, they'd probably have to sedate him...

Wonderful. They got to sedate their tactician to keep him from going on a murderous rampage.

...just peachy. Just _fucking_ peachy.

- -

Trowa watched Blake move from the airplane, licking his lips nervously. He could tell Blake'd been crying, and as he looked back to Matty, there was something in his _eyes_...

Matty met Trowa's eyes, but his were tired, drained. They swept past him to Heero...and locked _on_ to Heero.

Blake didn't bother speaking as he moved forward, wrapping his arms around Trowa's neck.

"Hey guys," Quatre greeted them in a slightly vacant voice. His eyes were out the window. "Good flight?"

"Pretty good," Blake muttered quietly.

"You okay?" Jinli asked Quatre hesitantly, stopping in front of Wufei.

"I'm okay," Quatre agreed in that same light voice—his focus was still out the window, though. "Just...a little..."

"It's okay," Heero muttered quietly. "You don't have to talk."

Quatre moved away from them wordlessly, staring back out at the forest.

"Is he okay?" Blake whispered.

"No," Trowa returned quietly. "He's not all here."

Blake blinked up at him.

"Not here," Trowa returned...and kissed him. The stress they'd been feeling since Duo's disappearance had tripled when Quatre'd arrived. They'd have to fully sedate him at night to make sure he slept instead of going after his gundam. He'd realized on some level that they were keeping track of him, and was just _watching_ for his moment to go.

They had to get something to snap him out of it soon, because if they didn't, he'd get around them. He was far more intelligent than he usually let on—especially when there was something he wanted to do. He'd figure it out, around the obstacles.

It was how he worked...and they didn't need _that_ on top of finding Duo...but there wasn't a whole lot they could do.

If he got too bad...they'd just sedate him constantly. None of them liked the notion, but Quatre'd pulled some _shit_ under the influence of Zero. No one knew for certain if he'd lost a bit of his sanity from that—at least, not entirely.

He wasn't exactly acting sane.

"I'm glad you're here," Trowa muttered, kissing at Blake's temple. "But you are _not_ leaving the base."

"I don't need to," Blake reassured him, looking back around to Trowa. "I just...wanted to be here...for you."

Trowa hugged him again, then pulled away to offer a hand to Jinli.

It was just as well that he'd shown up.

Things were about to _begin_.

- -

Duo wished he was still concussed, because they hadn't hit him so bad then...not that they were particularly hitting him _now_. Gerrange actually had a number of specials left, Ranger aside, and the one man seemed to wander into his cell randomly throughout the day.

He hurt.

As far as he could tell, it'd been two days since he'd gotten caught, and from the bitching he _did_ hear from Gerrange, they couldn't find hide nor hair of any of the machines.

He slid down the wall, which lost him his view of the grimy base and the surrounding jungle. The only thing he really liked about looking out the window was the light anyway. And that didn't disappear when he lay down.

The door slammed open.

Duo jumped, forcing himself to sit up, trying to launch to his feet.

"Oh, don't stand up for me," Gerrange purred happily, tilting his head as he considered his captive. A young woman scurried behind him with a plate of food, setting it on the shelf—half the room was raised three feet—with him before darting back from the room. The specials man who accompanied Gerrange every time and played with Duo at will smirked slightly as he watched her run off, then moved into the cell and closed the door behind himself.

"You paranoid in your old age?" Duo asked sweetly.

"Brigadier," Gerrange returned sweetly, setting a cup of water beside the food, "we've been looking at your phone...but it won't turn on."

Duo smirked at that.

"I've told Tennit," he indicated the man, "that we really want _into_ your phone," he set the machine down by the food. "So here's what we're going to do...you're going to eat, and then you're going to turn it on. I was very clear on that...you eat first...and none of the dawdling nonsense, either."

"I killed my phone, Marsh," Duo returned easily. "As soon as I realized I'd miscalculated the distances involved I destroyed my com and fried my phone."

The man gave him a skeptical look.

"I'm serious," Duo returned. "I keep a backup back home, so all I have to do is buy a new one...it's gone. There's nothing here."

Tennit moved forward instantly...and grabbed his arm.

Duo laughed in his face, but couldn't help the scream as the man decided a change of pace was called for...and gripped at Duo's thigh. He was thanking whatever god was paying him mind, because there were some more sensitive parts down there that could have been grabbed.

Gerrange laughed coldly, moving to sit next to the food as he considered the phone. "You know...you're probably not lying to me at all."

Duo panted, watching the hands nervously.

"But I don't get _why_, Brigadier Maxwell."

"I have some specialized programs," Duo panted instantly. "Not just Pax...but a few that Yuy made that we can't let fall into anyone else's hands."

The hands moved on his thigh.

"There's nothing I can do!" Duo panted instantly. "I can't..."

"Tennit," Gerrange gestured the man off as he thought. "You know how to get into the military database, don't you?"

"I didn't bother learning," Duo returned, glad he hadn't taken the time.

"But you _could_, right? With your badge?"

"You took everything I had when I came in," Duo retorted, relaxing fractionally. "Did it look like my badge was there to you? I left it in Deathscythe."

"Where _is_ Deathscythe?" the man returned.

"Long gone," Duo smirked at him. "If you didn't find it right after grabbing me, then _they_ took it."

The hands ripped at his leg again, and Duo choked the cry of pain off.

"I think you're telling me the truth," Gerrange noted in mild disgust. "I have no further need to talk to you...but I suppose we can't kill you quite yet."

Duo started laughing again, realizing his last chance of stopping the torture had slipped away. Part of him was grateful he didn't have the knowledge they wanted, and the other part wanted desperately to deal that he _could_ get it...if only the pain stopped.

Gerrange sneered at him in utter disgust, then moved across the room to the door. "Don't kill him...or dismember him," he ordered...and disappeared.

Duo looked up to Tennit, feeling his stomach churn as the man smiled a rather charming smile.

Occasionally in his life, Duo wondered about his own sanity, his piece of mind...but there was a thrill in that smile. There was a thrill in knowing that no matter what he did he was _fucked_. He was pretty sure he could hack into the database with no issues at all, and Marsh had to be in an altered state if he didn't realize it...so that left him with this.

He grinned back at the man as his stomach churned.

This was going to hurt.


	6. Six

2 of 2

- -

**Six**

Matty was vaguely amused to sit near Heero and watch Blake. Blake's father had been in the military since before he was ever thought of, let alone conceived. He'd spent time with his father on base enough that he was comfortable with soldiers milling around.

"Yuy wants a count, a pepsi, and some food."

The soldier nodded, starting for the door.

"Bring drinks," Blake added, then turned back to Trowa. Trowa passed him the legal pad he'd been writing on, and Blake considered the list, taking the pencil.

"What?" Heero muttered, glancing sidelong at him.

"No one's commented that Blake doesn't have any rank."

"Shh, he's getting stuff done," Heero returned, kissing his cheek.

"I know, but it's funny," Matty nuzzled briefly at him, then looked back to the map Heero was clarifying. It was a picture from a satellite, taken the day before. "Isn't that part of it?" he pointed out a building.

"I can't tell," Heero returned, frowning at the screen. "I'm not seeing any paths here, but there are trees," he indicated the area between that building and the main set. "None of our guys have gotten out there."

"Get them to call Cardle or Raymond," Trowa muttered, turning to Blake. "I want them here two hours ago," he pointed at his vid.

"Okay," Blake ran through his mental list of names to figure out who the hell Cardle or Raymond even _were_. Hell, he hadn't known Trowa was into ops at all before that morning. "Uh...so get 25 on the line," he started to write quickly as he focused on a nearby soldier. "I don't care how you do it, just get it done. Get them hooked up to Barton's vid...and don't let them run you around."

"Sir," the soldier muttered, turning to a machine and starting to type.

"Get an update on Jin," Wufei instructed Blake.

Blake turned to the next soldier in the line, and the man nodded wordlessly, turning to disappear down the hall. They were running Jin through the testing programs on MS to see what knowledge he _did_ have.

"I'm going for Sandrock," Quatre muttered, rising to his feet.

"No you're not," Blake returned, moving to stand in his path and meet his eyes. "Sit down, Brigadier."

Quatre stared at him.

"Quatre," Matty muttered, moving around to get in his path as well.

"Stand down," Quatre ordered the pair of them, eyes narrowing on Matty. "I'm ranking..."

"Bullshit," Blake retorted. "We're kids associated with the military, not actual soldiers. _Sit_ down."

Quatre started to draw himself up.

"Duo won't want you to get Sandrock," Matty informed them seriously. "Duo thought Sandrock was a little much."

Quatre met his eyes.

"I don't want you to get Sandrock either," he added, moving forward...and starting to talk in a quiet voice.

Blake considered that a moment, then looked around to Wufei, who was blinking at him. He smiled slightly, then looked up to Heero. Heero was also blinking at him.

"So...if we can get the updates?" Blake turned back to look at the two remaining soldiers. "The information Une was sending."

"Right," one man muttered, then turned and disappeared.

The remaining soldier gave him a very level look.

"What?"

"You don't have any rank," the man noted. "How are you telling me what to do?"

"Barton wants you to," Blake returned, startled to be asked. No one else had said anything to him, and he was pretty sure they knew. It'd be funny if they didn't realize...

"My ass," the soldier growled. "Why would he..."

"I'll prove it," Blake returned easily. He turned and floated across the room—the others were back to their tasks. It included Matty talking to Quatre.

Blake moved up behind Trowa, placing his hands on the guy's shoulders.

"Hm?" Trowa looked up to him...and smiled as he leaned up to return the offered kiss.

The soldier was dumbfounded.

"You have horrible timing," Trowa informed him quietly, not noticing that...at least, Blake didn't think so. If he trained _spies_, he could notice all _sorts_ of little things without letting _anyone_ know it.

Blake was still a little miffed that the information had slipped Trowa's mind.

"Do you have _any_ idea how much shit I'd get if I went off to the room with you?"

The younger snickered at that notion, amused, then kissed him again. He pushed away, then turned to look around at the soldier...who was blinking at him.

Trowa focused on the man as well, then snorted and gave Blake a very level look.

"He didn't believe that you wanted them to obey me," Blake shrugged innocently.

"Go get us food," Trowa ordered the man. "We got one after drinks and food for Yuy...but the rest of us are hungry too. Winner just needs a nutrient bar."

The man frowned at that, then nodded his head and disappeared.

"If he's gonna question you when I've been telling you what to do, he can be my bitch," Trowa kissed him. "Give me that..."

Blake passed him back the legal pad, then looked around the room.

"Cardle...oh, sir," a blond man was blinking at the screen. "What's up?"

"You wanna come to Peru?" Trowa asked happily. "I could use you here."

"It's a thought," the man returned, looking Blake over curiously—or maybe it was Blake's hand in Trowa's hair.

He removed it quickly and the man gave him a look that asked 'now why did you do that?'

"What are you doing?" Trowa muttered, glancing back at Blake as well. "Like...what orders?"

"I've been going over the information we've been given on Gerrange's network," he explained. "Trying to pin where the rest of it is—if there is any. Personally, I think they're all with him now."

"Wouldn't that be convenient," Trowa noted dryly rolling his eyes. "Keep on the ready, pack your bags just in case. I may need you here, parachute-style."

"Through the atmosphere," Blake noted dryly. "Through a lack of gravity, and the atmosphere."

"Evidently I'm a super man," Cardle studied Blake over with interest. "Who are you?"

"Mine," Trowa retorted, extending a hand for the disconnect. "Just be ready and keep doing your job."

Cardle's eyes flashed with monetarily wild amusement as Trowa disconnected the line. As his picture disappeared, his mouth was open like he was trying to talk.

Blake gave the man an interested look, surprised.

"What?" Trowa protested. "He's gay or bi or something."

Blake raised an eyebrow, debating how best to approach the matter.

"So," Trowa decided it would be most expedient to move on. "What else did I get you to do for me? Because you really have _no_ rank, and I want to know just how far your confidence got you."

Blake started snickering.

"I found...his phone," Wufei said with interest. "He fried it."

They all turned to look at him instantly.

"It's barely got power left, I think, and it has _nothing_ for feedback."

"Where?" Heero pressed, looking over to Wufei's screen. "Coordinate that with my map."

Wufei clicked a few buttons, then moved over to the machine Heero was working on and started to type.

"Wong Jinli is doing the mechanics study," one of the soldiers they'd sent running noted happily, moving into the room. "Here are the results we have for him," he offered the paper to Blake.

"Thank you, take a rest," Blake muttered, looking blankly at the sheet. It really meant nothing to him.

Trowa snatched it from him, considering it a moment, then grinned and extended his arm. Quatre took the thing and stared at it blankly...then offered it as well.

Wufei snatched it, clicking a few more buttons.

"Well that's nice and inconvenient," Heero muttered irritably. "I really wanted to just go in and grab him."

"We will," Wufei returned, shifting back...and staring at the paper.

"So...how many of your childhood friends survived?" Trowa asked sweetly. "Because this one, at least, seems trained up rather well."

Wufei raised his eyes to stare at Trowa.

Trowa smirked.

- -

Heero sat back as Gerrange's rather smug image appeared on the screen, arms crossed as he lounged back in his chair.

"I hope you don't mind my delay in response," Gerrange muttered happily to them. "I wasn't intending to put it off this far, but I'm afraid I'd gotten distracted wile organizing our stores."

"The ones you mean to rob, or the ones you already have?" Trowa demanded dryly, shoving Blake away from the camera-front as he tried to move forward to see the other man.

"Who was that?" Gerrange asked blankly, looking in the direction.

"Just a soldier," Trowa returned indifferently.

Gerrange considered Trowa a moment, then turned and gestured behind himself.

The screen split, and an image of Duo came onto the screen. He was wearing the military-issue cargo jeans and a dark-green t-shirt he'd disappeared in, and his arms were behind his back. He was glaring at a person in the room with him, though, not the camera.

Quatre made a choked noise.

"I was debating how to use...the good General," Gerrange purred, looking back to the camera himself. "Quite the ante, don't you think?"

"No," Duo said in a calm voice. "We know better than that."

No one moved, no one responded.

Gerrange smiled slightly at that, tilting his head. "I knew I'd meet the high talk," he muttered. "So I arranged...a little...example."

Duo closed his eyes and took a very long and slow breath as the man in the room with Duo moved forward.

"Duo," Matty said urgently. "Tell Quatre not to do it...tell him not to..."

Duo focused on the camera...as a man moved in...and grabbed him.

Trowa's stomach churned as Duo tried not to cry out in pain. He forced himself to distance himself from that sound—from the anger and fear that tore at him to hear it...and sighed, shifting down in his seat.

"Interesting," Gerrange said quietly, studying them all. "Why is it that the only reaction is from the boy?" He shifted forward slightly as Duo cried out again, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, you're not!"

"Who's not what?" Trowa asked calmly. It was _hard_ to pretend not to hear Duo, but one eye-flicker would give them away.

"Williams," Gerrange noted dryly. "What in _the_ world are you doing there?"

"Burn in hell," Matty gasped back, then moved out of range of the camera to cling to Blake.

"I knew you were all assholes," Gerrange muttered dryly, looking back to them. "But this takes the cake...I suppose, if you don't care about him, I'll use him to my own advantage."

Heero raised his eyebrows almost curiously.

"He's going to break your coding, Yuy...or I'm going to kill him."

Heero smirked very slightly in response to that. "He's not that good."

"Quatre," Duo croaked, trying to force the pain out of his voice. "Quatre..._don't_...don't do it."

Quatre's eyes closed. "Do I have any choice?"

"I forbid it," Duo gasped...and that camera cut.

"Forbid what?" Gerrange asked with interest. "What was he talking about?"

"Me skinning you alive," Quatre returned, moving forward so his face took over the camera view. "You've pissed me off for the last time, Marshal. I will _kill_ you."

Gerrange sneered at him...and ended the call.

"I'm going to sharpen my knives," Quatre informed them all almost distantly.

"Not get Sandrock?" Matty demanded.

"You don't want to talk to me right now, boy," Quatre growled, not looking over his shoulder at the younger man. "You do _not_ want to talk to me right now."

Matty blinked.

Quatre swept from the room.

Heero gestured at the soldier to follow him, then looked around to Blake, narrowing his eyes.

"What?" Blake asked blankly.

"If you _ever_ try and let Gerrange see you again, I will _beat_ you."

Blake blinked at him.

"It's time to move," Heero added, rising to his feet and turning back to the computer he'd been at. He clicked a few buttons, and a send-bar showed up. "I don't know how bad off Duo is, and he _can_ break my code. We don't want Gerrange into the files that we locked up. Let's move."

- -

Duo licked his lips as he finally managed to loop a link from his cuffs around a screw. He'd taken a fork from his food at one point and worked the thing out as much as he could manage and keep the support he needed. When Tannit had realized he'd _kept_ a fork, he'd made sure he regretted it—rather, thought he'd made sure. Duo snorted slightly at the thought, dropping his head back to look out the window tiredly a long moment. The fact that Gerrange had finally declared himself to them all meant that the others would be coming for him. That meant he had to escape, put the base in chaos mode, and find somewhere to _hide_ for the couple hours it would take to get the soldiers to them.

The only problem was that he _hurt_...all over. He'd gotten himself smacked quite hard a number of times, and the man had done his pressure or _whatever_ it had been to both his arms and his legs. Just about the only two parts of his body that _didn't_ hurt were his feet and his groin. He'd gotten kneed and punched a couple times in the nuts, but that tenderness had faded.

Duo bit at his lower lip and started to lean forward. It wasn't going to be easy to bend the metal...he wished Gerrange had decided on zip ties instead—but then again, Gerrange knew him, didn't he?

The next question was how to go about getting away. He was three or four stories above ground-level, and he doubted he'd be able to climb out the window. He hadn't seen a way to open it yet, and the advantage of sneaking away would be moot when the air conditioner kicked on at an unexpected time. So the other way was through the door, through the base, and into the jungle.

Wonderful...just fucking _peachy_.

Duo snarled, yanking at his arms.

He was going to bleed, of course...but he was going to bleed if he stayed in the base, too. He liked the notion of causing himself to bleed much better than that damned man doing it again.

He didn't have the _time_.

- -

Blake followed after Trowa, pulling his hat down around his head better before darting forward to catch his forearm. Trowa barely glanced back at him before intertwining their fingers. He nearly had to run to keep up, but watching as Matty half-ran made him feel a tiny bit better about that.

"Is Demigod working yet?" Trowa snapped at Wufei.

"It's too questionable to really try," Wufei returned, running a hand distractedly through his hair. "We haven't finished testing it—we're still not sure exactly what happened."

"So what's the plan of action? I obviously have Heavyarms, but who's taking Deathscythe?"

"Can't be Quatre," Heero noted, glancing sidelong at Wufei.

"You can repair shit pretty fast," Wufei noted.

"You're still sick—it's about time for you next dose, isn't it?"

"Duo doesn't really like people in his machine—we're close, it'll be less of an intrusion."

"I've fucked him before. Define intrusion."

Blake snickered.

"He was talking to me about his machine a day or two before this all went down."

"He gave me a detailed description of what he did."

"I'm better with scythe weapons—Nataku had them."

"Isn't that a Chinese mythical hero?" Blake asked blankly.

"It's also the chosen name of my wife," Wufei returned, meeting his eyes very pointedly.

Blake glanced sidelong at Jinli.

"Wife, idiot," Jinli retorted. "I'm no chick."

Blake blinked at that, looking back to Trowa.

Trowa shook his head very slightly. "I'll tell you about it later."

"I'm flying it," Wufei declared firmly. "I've been in suit several times in the last six months."

Heero made an irritated noise, but there wasn't much to say in response to that.

It was simple fact.

- -

Duo was glad that his hands weren't necessary for what he was doing, because they were slick with blood. He felt a vague sort of buzzing in his head, which impaired his thinking a bit, but was preferable to the pain he'd be in without it.

He jerked forward and started cursing. He'd thought he'd had the thing around the screw pretty good, but it wouldn't be the first time he managed to...

He blinked down as his arms spread and something small clattered away.

He'd really just broken those cuffs.

The smirk that crossed his face was wicked as he considered the blood all over his hands. He shook his head irritably at that and wiped them front and back on the cargos as he stood, looking around.

There had been a chance that he was under surveillance...and with how casually he'd just broken that...

There was a commotion in the hall.

Yay! Bad-guys!

Duo snorted, looking around the room. Window or door? The door was locked...and the only thing in the room was a small table that was more along the lines of a tv-tray than anything else. That wouldn't make breaking the window easy...

But what choice did he have?

Duo nodded to himself, then looked up to the camera and smirked. He moved across the room to lift the little table...and swung at the dome encircling the machine. It took him a moment to manage it, then he hopped onto the shelf and jumped. He caught the actual camera, and gravity pulling him down ripped it from the ceiling with him. He smirked and turned...and threw the thing at the window.

Nothing happened...it just made a really loud noise.

Ah well, he'd actually expected that much. If he couldn't break the thing, he'd have to fight the soldiers...either way, his hands were free and he had a weapon in the form of a table.

He went to work on the window.

- -

"Gerrange just told the gundam pilots he's gonna use the one he's got to hack the military system," a female officer hissed to her two friends. "I've been asking around, and no one else who wants to leave is still here. I think the ESA is gonna cap this operation in about five minutes, so we might want to _leave_."

"Right," the second female whispered back, looking around. "Should we try to get that man? I kinda like the idea of pissing Rab off..."

"Are you _kidding?_" the first female demanded blankly. "He doesn't let anyone but that _specials_ man _talk_ to Maxwell—I brought food in to him one day and they told me that if I even met his _eyes_ they'd flay me...Rab doesn't want anyone _listening_ to him."

"So no?" the other asked. "We don't try?"

"No," she agreed dryly. "What we _can_ do, though, is go hit up the medical supplies."

The three women looked to each other nervously, then nodded...and started for the buildings.

Chances were that the place would be leveled before sunset. They probably _wouldn't_ miss a couple boxes of medication.

- -

Duo cursed as the cuff caught onto an extended bolt, looking around the area as he did so. He was on the third floor—just hanging outside the building and trying to figure out how to get _down_ without getting shot.

With the metal cuffs on his wrist and blood all over his arms, not to mention the bruising along his arms, there was no doubting he'd be recognized on sight by most as the enemy their beloved leader had caught.

It _was_ too bad he couldn't get his weapon back...but at the same time, it wasn't his _good_ one. He'd left that in his duffel.

It was like he knew everything was going to go to shit before they even started. He'd even backed up his phone before they started working on Deathscythe, and hadn't gotten a call after that.

Off-task, he wondered what Reg would think of him dangling from the side of an enemy base—or Quatre, for that matter. Lu would be informing him he didn't deserve more if he'd gotten himself _caught_ like a novice in the paint-ball arena...and Zechs would probably be laughing.

How _was_ Zechs? How was _Lu?_ Hell, what did they think of him _going_ missing?

He lowered himself carefully down the wall...and lost his grip.

Falling three stories...he was an idiot.

He caught the lip around the edge of the ground level, and his fingers caught on the rough-stone that made the area up. He was barely able to _catch_ his momentum before he plummeted, but after three or four days of torture, his arms couldn't stand it, let alone his hands. He tumbled the last few feet to the ground, grunting.

Well...that hurt.

He let his head clear, then pushed himself up...he was either still in the clear, or had given up the game. There hadn't been enough of a reaction when he finally managed to shatter the window, the commotion he'd heard in the hall hadn't _led_ to anything.

Whatever was going on, it evidently wasn't about _him_.

Duo shoved himself away from the building, stumbling a few steps before managing to regain at least most of himself.

The question became what sort of chaos did he need to set off? He wanted it to take everyone as long as possible to even realize he'd disappeared, so...that meant...fire?

He looked around the area, then headed for an outlying building.

After giving himself a few minutes to re-gather himself, he'd take his next step...and hopefully not get caught.

- -

"We're maybe an hour away," Trowa noted to the soldier he'd called up. "You might want to vacate the premise."

"But, Sir...our integrity..."

"You're in a ghost-town," Trowa snapped back, fingering the bruise in the soft tissue between his neck and shoulder. Blake had noted that a sweet-soft kiss good-bye wasn't either of their style...and had shoved him against the wall with the aggression of it. The back of Trowa's head had ached for a while after leaving, and it hadn't helped that Blake had totally ran his fingers up into his hair like _that_...kissed him sweetly once...and bit him. "It just doesn't know it's dead yet."

"Sir..."

"Are you _questioning_ my orders?" Trowa growled.

"Uh...no," the man said quietly. "Do you want me to find the others?"

"You're the last one," Trowa reassured him. "I called them already. You need to make your escape, pronto."

The guy sighed. "Yes, sir."

"I love your enthusiasm, soldier," Trowa retorted. "I'll keep it in mind if we ever need a suicide bomber."

The man snorted and hung up.

Trowa rolled his eyes, closing the communication screen.

That had to be an awesome bruise. He'd never realized that Blake could _take_ charge, let alone like _that_. When they got back, he was totally finding a way to get himself and Blake a room for the night.

He grinned slightly and shook his head. Matty had clung to him hard before hissing in his ear that they needed to get this shit settled before Heero fixed Demigod.

The only problem with Jinli joining their group for the fighting was that it left Matty and Blake unguarded after Heero left. Quatre didn't have enough scope to check soldiers for a double-cross...but there had been a few men he'd liked. There'd been a handful that he'd kept finding...and they were going to be set to guard the room the group of them were sharing in pairs.

Matty and Blake had a game console, a couple games, and food for three days in that room. The luck had it that there was a very small bathroom beside the closet—and even though Trowa was pretty sure the closet was bigger, it meant that they had everything they needed to camp out when Heero took off.

Hopefully this didn't take more than _the_ day. He couldn't commit fully to Heero staying behind to keep the boys safe...but he didn't like the notion of prolonging this nonsense anymore than he _had_ to.

Trowa rubbed at the sore spot again, looking around the cockpit a moment, then over at Deathscythe—then at Wufei's screen on the far-right panel. It was in the bottom left corner.

"What?" Wufei muttered, glancing up at him.

"I was just thinking it's weird to see that machine and your picture."

"It handles oddly—like Duo."

"You know how to handle Duo?" Trowa asked blankly.

"Oh sure," Wufei agreed easily. "I can handle you, can't I?"

"That's a subject for debate."

"Well...it's not like we have anything else to do right now."

"Good point...I'm just too egotistic to argue."

"Because you know I'll win."

- -

Duo broke his last molotov cocktail in the engine of a humvee and looked to the sky. He prayed very hard that what he was doing wasn't going to start a huge forest fire or kill him...then lit a match. He stared at the fire a long moment, then carefully lowered the match to the piece of paper he had wedged in the middle of the engine...and ran for it.

His impromptu fuse wasn't exactly tested. He didn't know _how_ far he was going to make it before the fire reached the edge of the paper, or how large an explosion might result from that vehicle...but he was pretty sure he'd be okay in the trees.

He hoped.

From his routing around in the little shed, all he'd been able to find was oil for lawn-equipment—but accelerants made fire big, and cars tended to have gasoline, which was also an accelerant.

The rest had been random luck or a stupid-smoker. He didn't care, maybe it was both...it probably suited both better. A stupid smoker left his box of matches behind for him to find, and then use, to destroy a car.

He seemed to do that a lot, in retrospect.

Outside the base, there weren't many people, and considering that his shirt was soaked with sweat, he wasn't horribly surprised. What he _didn't_ like was the fact that the building had plenty of windows in it. It was obviously an old office building of some sort, and the modifications to a base had been retrofitted. That meant someone could see him from above—not to mention he'd broken the window.

Maybe the guys were coming with their gundams. That could possibly account for his escape being as successful as it had been so far...

He _heard_ the fire hiss into life behind him and dived for the tree-line...as the ground shook. The _sound_ of the machine exploding was deafening...as part of the burning mass landed on top of yet another humvee.

Duo smirked at the machines a brief moment, then darted further into the trees.

If he got bit by something here, it would probably be game over...and his sweat had to attract bugs...

He hated jungles.

The second humvee roared into fire, and he glanced back to consider it a moment, then decided to focus on running.

He doubted his absence would be neglected much longer...and it wouldn't do to be caught at this stage in the game—it wouldn't do at _all_.

- -

Julie stumbled sideways into Amanda as a huge explosion tore through the air—they'd thought they'd heard one already...so what was that?

"We should just run," Jennifer hissed, snapping the backpack of supplies she'd stolen to her back. "I think we need to just get _out_ of here."

The other two women nodded, securing their bags as well...and started for the jungle. The transport back to Illicit was waiting on the river...and there was no one around the base for a few miles to see them—the fighting that had gone on when Illicit had first landed had guaranteed that.

The run through the woods was accompanied by the siren finally sounding the alarm—though for the explosions, their thievery, or the approaching attack, the three didn't know.

Their bags were crammed with Remalene, gauze, and painkillers. They'd each grabbed as much as they could to cram into their packs...and hopefully the president would appreciate it. None of the council had seemed to mind the food and water they'd been filching so far.

Rab's people weren't so hot at keeping track of those little details.

Coming up to the transport stopped their hearts, though, because there were three men standing at the edge of it...and they pointed weapons at the three women.

"That's ours!" Julie hissed, moving for it. "We're just going to go...park it..."

"This is a transport to Illicit," one of the men noted, keeping the weapon leveled at her. "We need to get to Illicit—or at least away."

The six people blinked back and forth at each other blankly before the sound of shouting started behind them.

"Get on!" Julie snapped, darting for the door. "We're the last here..."

They darted into the machine, and Julie darted for the helm...before nearly falling over as she tried to stop. There was a man sitting in front of the controls, and he looked like he'd been to hell and back...and he had a gun.

"Considering the look of panic on that pretty face of yours," he noted almost laconically, "I'm assuming this is your craft."

"Brigadier Maxwell?" one of the men demanded in utter astonishment. "What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

"Out here!" the call came from the jungle. "In the river!"

The man's eyes widened and he pushed himself to his feet.

Julie didn't have time to wait.

"No! I need to stay here!" the man protested, turning on her as she took the chair.

"Brigadier Barton ordered us to get the fuck out of here," the man who'd spoken before noted. "And I sure as hell am not letting you hurt these ladies."

The man stared at him.

Julie started the engine. "Hold onto something!" she ordered over her shoulder...and hit the accelerator.


	7. Seven

1 0f 2

**Seven**

"Oh good god," Jaden muttered in disbelief as he stared at Duo Maxwell...but then realized the _state_ the man was in.

His arms and hands were covered in blood—the brown of dried blood had a layer of red running through it. It was a sickening contrast against human skin, and the pair of cuffs around his wrists were obviously the cause of his troubles there...but that wasn't all. He was wearing a simple T-shirt...and his arms were _covered_ in bruises. He had bruises on his _neck_...his jawline...and that looked like dried blood in his hair...and then those _pants_.

"What in the hell happened to you?" Qingfu demanded, moving around Jaden to stare at the man in disbelief.

"I was reading a book," Maxwell retorted.

"That must've been one helluva book," Qingfu noted blankly, looking him over. "I've never seen paper-cuts _that_ bad."

Disbelief cross the man's eyes before amusement replaced it, and a slight smirk transformed the face from the god of death to a cocky brat. "Action adventure," he noted, "gets me every time."

"You should try audiobooks some time," Qingfu noted, moving even closer to the man and digging into his pocket.

Maxwell laughed at that, eyes still on Qingfu. "I don't know if I'd trust it—I think I may give up reading."

Qingfu looked him over, then extended a hand, palm-up. "You might at that."

"What is this?" Maxwell asked blankly.

"Remalene," Qingfu explained. "I got myself nearly shot to death, this is my last dose, but you look like you're about to fall over."

"I really didn't think it was that obvious," Maxwell muttered, tilting his head slightly as he took the pills. "Murder mystery?"

"I can't help a good who-dun-it," Qingfu agreed.

The man laughed again and considered the pills seriously.

"Dude, I have a feeling you were in the cockpit the whole time, and the woman didn't tell us you were coming. If you think I pack poison around in my pocket, I'm gonna laugh at you."

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Jaden demanded, stepping forward to look the man over. He had a feeling that if Maxwell had been with Yuy and Barton when they were leaving Sierra Leone, the man would have shot the helicopter down without blinking twice, deal or no. "I kinda stole your boy..."

"He's not _my_ boy," Maxwell returned easily, popping the pills in his mouth...and taking a drink from a water-bottle he'd had in his pocket. "I thought about killing you, but at the same time...according to the lovely ladies," he gestured at the trio that were waiting uncertainly, "You're like...the supreme ruler of the ocean or something."

Qingfu snickered. "No, just the ship."

"Just the ship?" Maxwell gave him a confused look. "What's the point of being supreme ruler of a _ship?_"

"I haven't figured that part out," Qingfu reassured him, looking him over again. "Why don't you walk with me...I know another pretty lady who might not mind giving you some attention."

"Look...I've got a guy," Maxwell said carefully. "You're not trying to put me in a cat-house or anything, are you?"

Jaden gave him a _very_ level look, grabbing Qingfu's upper arm. "Funny as you...undoubtedly...are," he muttered, "you're not staying here."

"What?" Qingfu demanded, turning to look at him. "Jaden, he's half-dead on his feet."

"He's a Brigadier _fucking_ General of the Earth Sphere A-_fucking_-lliance," Jaden snapped back. "I am _not_ holding a _Brigadier **fucking** General_ on _my_ ship."

"It's our ship," Qing retorted. "And I say he gets medical attention before we decide _anything_ else."

Maxwell tilted his head at them a moment, then turned around and pointed at the woman who'd coordinated the landing.

"We got some...supplies," she said quickly, swinging the bag she'd had on her back off her shoulders and unzipping it. "I grabbed a bunch of Remalene."

Jaden and Qingfu stopped bickering, turning to see...boxes...of the medication.

"I have some gauze and sterilizing stuff...some analgesic cream, and...um...I think some heavier pain-killers. I didn't have a lot of time to pick and choose."

"Me too," one of the other women muttered. "And we loaded some food in here...and water bottles," she indicated the thing Maxwell was holding.

Jaden turned to stare between them.

"I'm a spy," one of the men noted, raising his hand. "I was ordered to get off the base because Barton is going to raze it."

"I totally need a phone...now," Maxwell noted, moving around Jaden and Qingfu a screen on the wall.

Jaden felt a little miffed when the man took over the console without giving him a second glance...then realized what that man had said and looked back to the group again.

"Wow..." Qingfu muttered intelligently. "Quite the haul."

"So we have at least four known spies, a Brigadier General, and a bunch of pirated medical supplies..."

"Sounds good to me," Qingfu shrugged at him, his expression clearly reading that there wasn't a whole lot to be done about it, so he was gonna make the best of it. He offered his hand to the females, smiling at them all brightly. "You girls are dolls."

"We just...wanted to help as much as we could," the first noted, accepting his hug in a bashful way. "I know it's not really a lot...but...well, the Remalene kinda is, huh?" she raised her bag to look at it. "Each box has thirty doses in it."

...there were a _lot_ of boxes in that bag.

Jaden stared at it...as the second woman opened her bag to show a similar collection of boxes.

Well...that made things a little easier, didn't it?

He moved forward, offering his hand himself.

Holy shit...

"Hey, it's Duo," Maxwell noted happily.

"Duo!" Yuy appeared in the vid, his expression elated. "Oh god! You look like shit! Are you okay? Where are you? Where is everyone? Demigod's not working...are you...where are..." he trailed off...as his eyes landed on Jaden.

"I'm on the good ship Illicit due to some unforeseen complications with a couple of Tro's guys who threatened to shoot me if I hurt the pretty ladies flying the transport." Maxwell gestured at the women. "I'd like, totally make them take me back to land, but...wow..." he stumbled sideways, using his hands to keep himself in front of the console...then reaching behind himself for the railing.

"Duo!"

"I took some Remalene," Maxwell explained. "Didn't think about the fact that I haven't eaten since yesterday...wow..." his eyes were going distant as he clung to the railing. "I'm, uh...gonna pass out now..."

Yuy's expression turned savage as Jaden darted forward to catch the man before he hit his head. "If you _think_ I'll let you _live_..."

"Sir!" the one spy protested, darting forward quickly. "Sir...I'm sorry...but Timorre was trying to get rid of him! He was saying...he said he doesn't want a Brigadier on his ship...it's not..."

Yuy sneered, still looking Timorre over.

"Go get a fucking medic," Qingfu snapped at the women, who were gawking. "Drop your stuff off and get someone down here with a stretcher...holy shit...whoa." He'd looked up and recoiled as he saw Yuy's expression.

"Jaden?" Matty demanded, moving up in front of Yuy, who then focused on attempting to keep him back.

Jaden's chest tightened as he studied the youth. Guilt and worry...concern and confusion...shock, actually. _Matt_ looked concerned.

"You're okay?" Matty asked.

"Are _you?_" Jaden retorted, thinking of the moment the guy had rolled out of the helicopter. He hadn't been that horrified in a long time. "Wait," he muttered, looking down at the passed-out officer. "You're in _Brazil?_"

"Not Brazil," Matty grinned slightly, then frowned. "Is he okay?"

"He's torn up," Jaden muttered back, rubbing at his head a moment as he altered his thinking. Obviously the young man was no worse for wear. "He's got dried blood all over," he raised an arm for them to see. "These cuffs need to come off somehow...and...I think the Remalene should help with the bruising...but I don't know how dehydrated he is or anything. I have some nurses here...they'll check him out while he's sleeping. We'll...we'll make sure he's not _dying_ and get him back to you as quick as possible." He looked from Matt's face to Yuy, considering the obvious hatred a moment. "I'm not holding him. Actually, I'm going to try to not even _talk_ to him after this...please don't attack us We're trying to figure things out and...we're unarmed. We have some personal weapons and stuff...but...not enough to be even remotely a threat."

Yuy's eyebrows shot into the air.

"What the hell even happened?" Matt demanded. "We got a call that one day some space ship landed at the base and civil war hit...and then you were gone....floating in the middle of nowhere for no known reason."

"Rab's a dipshit," Qingfu shrugged. "We agreed, and so did these others. Jaden got tired of Rab treating him like his bitch and kicked his ass...and we decided to get out of there. We had the ship, so..."

"I somehow think you're simplifying things," Matty noted dryly, rubbing at his face. "We have to call...call Quatre," he noted, looking around to Yuy. "And Trowa..."

"Sir?" the spy asked. "Orders?"

"Kill anyone who fucks with Maxwell," Yuy retorted. "Let us know the _instant_ Timorre decides to use him as ransom."

Jaden sneered slightly at him.

"Yes, sir," the man muttered, saluting. "Um...anything...else?"

Qingfu turned to give him a level look.

"Take care of Duo," Matty moved into the screen before Yuy could make anymore a comment. "And don't fuckin' sedate'im."

"If he drives me bat-shit crazy, I might," Jaden retorted.

"Don't be pissy," Matty retorted. "We'll try and figure a way to get him without getting you in trouble."

"_You_ will," Yuy noted darkly.

"Yes, and I'm your espoused," Matty retorted. "Which means that I can give orders just like you, and unless I'm countermanded, they'll be followed, so don't go getting pissy at _me_ because you don't get to pound Jaden's face in."

"Yet," Yuy noted very darkly, looking past the youth to the man in question. "I don't get to pound his face in _yet_."

Jaden snorted and hit the disconnect button.

What the _hell_ was he supposed to do with a _Brigadier General?_

"He looks kinda...cute...when he's sleeping," Qingfu noted thoughtfully, considering Maxwell as noise started in the hall. "Without that cocky grin...or a weapon...he almost looks like fun."

Jaden gave his friend a level look, rising carefully so he was out of the way of the medics.

"What?" Qingfu asked curiously. "Did you ever _ask_ me if I was straight?"

"Oh as if that's what I was talking about!" Jaden couldn't help but protest that right-off.

"We're trying to keep people from knowing if we're a couple," Qingfu noted to the spies that were blinking at him. "Don't interrupt my game and I'll have no problems with any of you."

"We're with the Brigadier anyway," the man retorted, looking to his fellows. "The unconscious general gets a guard."

"You seem to think I _care_ about you," Jaden noted skeptically. "Why do you think that?"

"We got the notices that you're not persecuting the man on the ship. We don't know how far we can actually trust you though."

"Probably about as far as you could throw me," Jaden noted smoothly. "Most likely, you've been trained to fight better than I was. Keep it in your pants, boys, I won't send anyone after you—I'll come for you myself."

The man grinned at him, then started after the stretcher with his fellows.

"Maxwell's actually...kinda funny," Qingfu noted, looking back to Jaden. "I hadn't expected him to be funny..." he tilted his head. "I guess all I ever saw of him was the homicidal side."

"You did _not_ fight Maxwell," Jaden protested blankly. "He _killed_ everyone he fought."

"You know, that's kinda like those myths of pirates and shit—how the hell do you get the reputation of killing everyone you ever come across if you've killed everyone you've come across? No one would be alive to tell the tale, and it could hardly be attributed to you," he shrugged as he started from the area. "Let's go find Hoxha...I wanna bug him with this. He hasn't left the ESA, and that means he has to cowtow to Maxwell...you coming, Jay?" He frowned. "You don't like J, though...how about Den? I should call you Den—get Hoxha's head full of all _sorts_ of nifty notions there, huh?" he started laughing...and disappeared into the hall.

Jaden sighed, looking to the ceiling a moment as he took a long slow breath.

This was going to be one of _those_ days, he could already tell.

- -

"Duo's out."

"What?" Trowa demanded as Wufei also focused on the screen Heero caused to appear in the middle of the front-panel.

"He's out," Heero repeated. "He just called us from Illicit."

Wufei smacked a hand to his face.

"I didn't get much more out of him than he wasn't at the base, though—he'd taken Remalene and pretty much passed out."

"How is he?" Quatre's voice was strained—and the fact that he wasn't on a vid was portrayed by a bar across the bottom of the screen that wiggled with his voice. Trowa sighed and reached over, touching the corner of Wufei's screen and sending it to the main screen.

"He seemed...okay," Heero returned almost hesitantly. "I didn't get a really good look at him before he passed out, but Timorre didn't seem more than disturbed by his state. I guess Rin...that was Qingfu, right?" Heero muttered over his shoulder.

"Yeah," Matty moved up and looked to the screen. "They gave him a dose of Remalene. _They_ looked a little worried, but not really scared. Duo looked like...hell. He was tired, too...but...was that a normal reaction to it?" Matty looked nervously to Heero.

"Normal? What was wrong?" Quatre's voice was urgent.

"He hadn't eaten," Heero returned, shaking his head at Trowa and Wufei. "He said he hadn't eaten since last night."

"If he just hadn't eaten and he passed out like that...oh _god_," Quatre made a frustrated noise. "Let me have Deathscythe or Demigod...I can go out to...to Illicit and..."

"Everyone is ignoring Illicit until we take care of Gerrange," Trowa reminded him. "We can't properly acknowledge it exists and that we haven't done anything about it yet."

Quatre made a noise.

"Hey, guys?" Jinli sounded nervous. "I'm glad to hear that Duo's...not...in the base and all...but Quatre looks about to pass out."

"Keep him with you," Wufei ordered. "No matter what he tries to do—he can't leave the caravan. You hear me, Quatre? You try to take off on me and Jin will tranq you."

"I'll kick his ass before I go," Quatre snapped.

"Don't even _start_ that bullshit," Trowa ordered. "If Duo _called_ Heero..."

"They want him to get off the ship," Matty noted. "Jaden wanted him off the ship, but Qingfu wanted him checked first. Jaden told me he'd make sure Duo was okay."

"And since when have we decided to take the word of our enemies?" Quatre still sounded half strangled.

Matty stared at the screen a long moment, then looked up to Heero with wide eyes. "I don't think Jaden's our enemy."

There was a low growl from Quatre's screen.

"If you say half of what you're thinking to _my_ husband," Heero started firmly.

"_Fuck you!_" Quatre shouted back.

"Damn it, Quatre!" Jinli's voice moved away from the speaker.

"Um...Brigadiers?" a soldier asked almost nervously. "Brigadier Winner and...and...um, Wong-Chang just left the vehicle."

"Thank you," Heero said in a tight voice. "Disconnect and let them know to call me at will."

"Yes, sir," she returned...and the bar disappeared.

Heero rubbed at his face and gestured behind him. "I think I got the problem figured out...but the piece isn't _here_."

"Of course it isn't," Wufei grumbled, rolling his eyes. "How was he, really?"

"Bruised and bloody," Heero returned dryly. "Blood stains on his clothes, dried blood in his hair...when he started falling I about had a heart-attack..." he looked around, noting that Matty had wandered off and shook his head again. "I think Timorre meant it."

"Which?" Wufei asked, blinking.

"That he wants Duo off the ship, but Rin isn't gonna let him go without a check-up. They were sending him to the medical wing. I really and honestly believe Timorre is floundering out there."

"That's what all the reports we've gotten say. What's going on? Right now I mean."

Heero looked back around then gestured at Demigod again. "A whole lot of _nothing_."

Wufei frowned, then nodded.

"We're about there," Trowa noted quietly, looking through the images on his screen. "I say ten or fifteen minutes. Halt the line and regroup?"

"Yeah," Wufei agreed, focusing on the controls. Deathscythe stopped and made the gestures to the men around them, then Wufei rubbed at his face again. "So what do we do?"

"Right now, you take care of Gerrange," Heero returned dryly. "This shit shouldn't have taken this long to begin with."

"What do you want us to do with...with Wing?" Trowa asked quietly.

"Destroy it," Heero met his eyes instantly. "Self destruct once and for all—I should have taken care of it instead of leaving it..." he shook his head again.

"Duo's safe?" Blake demanded, half-slamming into Heero as his eyes sought out Trowa's screen. "Really?"

"He didn't call me," Trowa pointed out.

Blake smiled at him, it lit up his face entirely. He looked to Wufei with that same expression, then around to Heero.

"Okay," Matty muttered, moving up behind them. "You're nearly there, aren't you?"

Trowa nodded.

"Watch your ass," Matty growled at him specifically, then looked around to Wufei. "Both of you."

"Yes, boss," Trowa retorted, shaking his head. "Will that be all, boss?"

Matty grinned at him, then frowned and pursed his lips. "I know...you make light of it...but...if that's a base, it'll have...more weapons, won't it?"

"And a couple mobile suits, probably some anti-suit tanks. The usual bull...trust me, Matty, I've done this a few times before."

"And ran out of ammo every time," Heero agreed dryly. "I'll set the boys up in the suite and head over..."

"_What?_" Matty demanded, turning on him. "But..."

Heero looked around him to the screen. "Jin can deal with Quatre, can't he?"

"I think...mostly," Wufei agreed, licking his lips. "It's hard to tell, though. Quatre doesn't get in this state...so I don't know how fast he'll be to fight."

"At least Jin's not helpless," Heero agreed, sighing. "When you're done there, we can figure out how to get Duo off Illicit."

"Right," Trowa agreed. "So you'll be here in an hour or three, we'll go Edwards on this base, and then we can see if the gundams were built for swimming."

Wufei turned and gave him a _very_ level look.

Trowa grinned, ignoring that.

"Trowa?" Blake moved up around Matty, who was talking urgently to Heero. "Be careful, please? I..." he hesitated. "If you... I can't..."

Trowa took a long slow breath, studying the guy's features, then nodded his head. "I told you...we're going to Pandora's when we get back to LA."

Blake smiled sadly at that, looking down.

"I'll keep him alive for you," Wufei reassured him. "He'll keep me alive, I'll keep him alive...and then we can all have hot crazy sex in the room tonight."

The smile came back to Blake's face immediately, his eyes lighting up and disbelief clearly crossing his face.

"I didn't say with each other," Wufei pointed out half-dryly. "Don't get your hopes up."

"If you didn't fuck me at least half as good as Trowa, I'd be amazed."

Wufei started laughing.

Blake looked back to Trowa a moment, the anxiety returning to his eyes before he smiled.

"I want you to do what you can to keep Matty safe," Trowa said quietly. "Gerrange shouldn't know you, and I don't think everyone on base realizes you're mine, so you should be under the radar enough to fly-by. If shit goes down, get Matty and get out of there. The safest place is LA, but if you can get to the hangar...he knows what I mean...if you can get to the hangar, no one can get in that."

Blake nodded seriously.

"I had a throw-away phone," Trowa noted quietly. "I forgot it in the hangar...it's got...the minutes won't expire and it's in pieces. The charger is there."

Blake nodded again, studying Trowa's face...as he disconnected.

"You're not going to tell him you love him?" Wufei asked dryly.

"I don't have to say it," Trowa retorted. "He knows."

"He also knows we could get killed, and you just told him how to hide if shit goes south. Would it _kill_ you to say it?"

Trowa focused on the screen, narrowing his eyes.

Wufei smirked at him, sitting back laconically in his seat. "One thing I do have to say about him...I _like_ that smile. You get that smile often? I can see why you fell for him."

"Are you _done?_"

"Oh no," Wufei reassured him pleasantly. "The almighty all-straight bastard fell in love with some twenty-year-old brat. You think _I'm_ going to let you alone? Please, Trowa...I thought you knew me better than that."

- -

"Attention Marshal Gerrange," Trowa's voice was magnified by his machine. "Come out with your hands up, with no weapons, or we will be forced to attack your base of operations until it is razed to the ground. We will give you fifteen minutes to accede to our demands before assuming denial. If we see mobilization, the fifteen minute window will be nullified, and we will attack."

Jinli rubbed a hand down his face, closing his eyes.

He was pretty sure there was a better way to say _all_ of that. It didn't matter, though, did it? Gerrange was very much not coming out in that fifteen minutes, and there were certain formulas that at least had to be flirted with.

The Asian frowned up at Deathscythe, wondering how he'd come to be sitting in a humvee with a sulky ex-gundam pilot and two gundams that were supposed to have been destroyed. That was entirely aside from _living_ with the five gundam pilots alone—and dear lord, he was espoused of Chang Wufei.

He grinned slightly at that, wondering what his parents would think. He couldn't help but feel he'd have been teased constantly.

The idea that Duo'd been grabbed had been terrifying—hearing how they'd hurt him on camera had been painful...and then to hear he'd gotten away just made Jinli want to walk away. This had happened before, to hear Wufei tell it. Brigadier General Zechs Marquise...or was it Milliardo Peacecraft? Either way, he'd been taken hostage and escaped.

All things considered, though, it sort of figured. None of the men in charge had been noted for their leadership skills or forethought. Actually, from what Jinli'd gathered from the files they'd been sent, the men were the ones who had someone partnered with them to keep them in line. Like Jaden Timorre, he'd been through so many anger management classes that he'd spent a few months teaching them. Reading _his_ file, with the myriad demerits, made Jin wonder if Matty was even talking about the same _person_. The only time the two profiles had ever matched up even slightly was the time when Timorre and Rin had gotten drunk off their asses and Timorre had thrown a beer at the youth. Rin's profile had been less...dramatic...but he'd had enough issues. Marshal Gerrange...well, he'd been a real piece of work, not to _mention_ Deroy Hanager.

At some point, there had to be an...epiphany, didn't there?

Jinli shook his head.

"Oh, look at that," Trowa's voice was almost disappointed as his gundam gestured toward the base. "I think they're mobilizing."

"Wonderful," Wufei returned dryly. "Get ready."

Quatre shook his head and moved from the humvee, pulling the rifle from beside his chair over his neck.

Jinli stared at that as the words _really_ penetrated his mind.

He'd never _been_ in a fire-fight. He was the hand-to-hand guy...he had basic MS training...this...

"Sir?" the female soldier muttered from the front seat, looking back to him. "Please, take your firearm and get ready. Everything is about to start."

- -

"If you'd like to keep your general alive," Rab declared via vid to the gundams, "then we demand you immediately cease and desist."

"Oh, really?" Chang asked with interest. "And how will you kill him?"

"Slit his _fucking_ throat," Rab hissed back, glaring at the hated images on his screen.

"Do it," Chang ordered him. "Get your ass on it so we can kill you."

Rab sneered at the Asian man, reaching for the disconnect. "Fine, we'll see what you think when his blood is all over the floor."

"I wonder if he's woken up yet," Barton mused thoughtfully. "How long do you think he'll sleep?"

"That's a good question," Chang agreed brightly.

"You trying to make me think you talked to him?" Rab asked, trying to keep his voice from going tight.

"Well, no," Chang admitted. "He talked to Yuy."

Rab rolled his eyes at the camera. "His blood is on your hands."

"Oh, so you have him," Barton muttered. "I guess we should back off."

"If you don't want him _dead_," Rab agreed darkly.

Barton nodded his head...then leaned forward...and disconnected.

Rab sneered at that as Chang also ended the call, then turned toward the commotion that had started at the back of the building.

People were running through the building all over, people were gathering up their belongings...and everyone was heading for the back lot.

"What are you doing?" Rab demanded of the men scrambling around, pushing through the waiting crowed. The men had been trying to clean up the mess of vehicles that had exploded earlier in the day...presumably by Maxwell. "They can't know Maxwell is gone!"

"We don't know where he _went_," one of the men snapped back. "We have to get out of here...we need to find somewhere _safe_."

"Safe?" Rab protested. "They believed me when I persisted that we _have_ Maxwell..."

The man gave him a frustrated look, looked around at his fellows, then shook his head.

"What?" Rab demanded.

"You'll have to forgive me, sir," he muttered...and swung.

Rab had a moment of disbelief before the pain flared through his senses...and everything went black.

- -

"So," Wufei muttered. "Mobilizations negates the fifteen minutes grace, right Tro?"

"Oh sure," Trowa agreed happily. "Shall we?"

"I don't want to be the first to act," Wufei noted almost sadly. "I don't even want to be here."

Trowa frowned at the reality in that simple statement, then shrugged. Since they didn't have that choice, they had to deal with what they did have. He leaned forward, and started to work his controls...and Wufei followed suit.

- -

Quatre watched as the gundams moved forward, being sure his weapon was ready for use. There was something inside him that had gone dark since he'd found out Duo'd been grabbed, and he almost couldn't care. He _wanted_ to be going out to Illicit, but that wasn't going to happen until the _others_ took care of Gerrange.

He almost wanted to go to sleep...he wanted to...to...

The sensation of pain and brightness flashed through his mind, and he stopped, blinking a few times. What had that been? Bright white lights and a strange-colored ceiling, that had been the impression...that and the pain.

"Quatre?" Jinli asked, moving up beside him with the rifle around his neck. He looked distinctly uncomfortable in his kevlar and helmet.

"Yeah?" Quatre muttered, still trying to puzzle out what he'd seen and felt—if it'd been from Duo or Matty.

"Are you...are you ready?"

Heavyarms started moving forward, and a moment later, so did Deathscythe.

"That question is now moot," Quatre noted, gesturing the signal for his men to be ready. "Stay with me Wong," he instructed. "Things are about to get loud."


	8. Eight

2 of 2

**Eight**

Duo opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the ceiling above him before raising his hand to rub at his face. He stopped, though, blinking at his wrist.

There was gauze around it.

He stared at that a long moment, then raised his other hand to look at his other wrist...so, they'd taken the cuffs off.

It took a moment for his memory to clear, and as it did, he remembered how bad it'd _hurt_ when they were taking those cuffs off. They'd had some metal clipper things, so they'd pulled the edge of the cuff up as far as they could...which had made the other edge dig back into his skin. It'd hurt like _hell_ and he'd woken up to it.

Why hadn't they numbed him first?

Or had they?

He blinked a few times, then looked back to his arms. They were clean...and there were only a few bruises on the upper parts.

Well, that was a plus...why had he been tortured again? Oh, yeah, right.

He was a dumbass.

Duo pushed himself into a sitting position and listened to the quiet room. He'd had an I.V. in at some point, if the mark on the back of his hand meant anything...and...wow, he had to pee.

Moving into the main hospital room, Duo blinked at the various men and women who were laying on the beds. From what he could tell, most of the beds were newly vacated.

A nurse looked up to him...and fear crossed her face.

"Brigadier!" one of the soldiers from the transport muttered, hopping instantly to his feet to salute.

Some of the patients shifted uncomfortably, shifting where they sat.

"What time is it?" Duo muttered, rubbing at his face as he looked around for the signs that'd show him the rest room.

"It's nine, sir," the man returned as the other two rose to salute as well. "Can we get you anything?"

"Let me pee, then we can talk," he retorted, starting for the one sign.

The men followed him.

He turned and looked at them over his shoulder in disbelief.

"Brigadier Yuy ordered us to keep you safe," the man explained quickly.

"Oh my god," Duo ran a hand through his hair and gestured for them to wait. "I order you to knock it off."

The man stopped and stared at him.

"Oh, _come_ on..." one of the others groaned. "Make up your damned minds..."

"I'm sure he wanted me protected while unconscious," Duo retorted. "I'm conscious and can take care of myself now. Go find a bed and a shower or something."

The men sighed irritably to each other, then moved closer together, starting to talk quietly.

That was the only problem with finding intelligent people, Duo shook his head as he moved into the bathroom. They were going to figure out together the happy medium of the two orders they'd been given. That meant that probably one of them would "choose" to hang out with him.

It didn't take him long to relieve himself, and he took a moment to wash his hands and rinse his face off.

"Sir," the soldier who hadn't spoken saluted him with a grin as he came out. "I'd like to spend some time with you."

"Oh, don't feed me the line," Duo retorted, moving past him. "Just stay with me and don't get in my way."

"Of course not, sir," the man gave him an amused look. "My name is Wayne Lyer. 'm second class ops."

"Second class?" Duo asked, interested. "That's nearly first."

"Do you have any idea how much _harder_ I'd have to work to become a frickin' first class ops? It's bad enough that I can be sent on six month missions. First class can get tossed out for a _year_...and go _back_."

Duo grinned at him and shook his head. "I'm just teasing, don't mind me."

The man gave him a sour look. "I suppose we fail on tricking you into thinking we're just hanging out, huh?"

"It's the position I put you in," Duo shrugged. "You can't go against Yuy's orders without a clear from him, but you can't go against mine, either. How did you get around that, anyway?"

"I sat at the door until a couple hours ago. I was only in there to bring the others water."

"Nice," Duo complimented.

"How are you feeling? You look ten times better."

"I'm still sore," Duo muttered, displaying some of his more severe bruises and shaking his head. "I'd _love_ a shower, too."

"I can show you the facility," Lyer offered.

"Hold that thought," Duo suggested, stopping near the nurse and studying her face.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a mildly quavering voice—she was trying hard to keep it from getting worse. There'd been a hesitation at the end of her question, too, like she'd been about to call him sir.

"I need you to get me a write up of supplies," Duo returned easily.

"With all due respect," she noted, her tone sharpening. "I don't have to obey you."

"Well, if they aren't going to cooperate," Duo noted to his shadow, turning for the doors. "I suppose I should just contact the ESA and note the hostility. About how long do you expect it'd take to blow up this ship?"

"It couldn't take _too_ long," Lyer reassured him happily.

The woman had her hands on her hips as she stopped behind them, glaring at Duo a long moment. "I'll have it by lunch."

"Wonderful," Duo smiled happily at her, then turned and started away. "I'll wait for it with bated breath."

Lyer grinned as they left the hospital area. "They distributed the Remalene last night while you were out. A lot of the people who thought they had another week of waiting here were able to get out this morning. The food supply is low, though, so most people have taken to eating twice a day."

"Wonderful," Duo muttered dryly, following the other. "I'm starving but they have limited supplies."

"The injured eat three times," the guy reassured him. "At least the ones who were verging on critical. I guess they had a bunch of deaths when they left Rab."

"Gerrange," Duo corrected.

"Rab...Gerrange...whatever, it's the same man," the man shrugged.

"Aren't I like...ranking...here?" Duo demanded.

"You're ranking everywhere," the guy retorted. "I haven't been told to break cover, just told to get away from the base."

Duo rolled his eyes.

"Maxwell."

Duo looked up at Rin and grinned at him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd talked to someone who was able to sustain his jokes.

"I was just coming to see if I could make your men shoot me," he noted happily, indicating Lyer. "They were going to last night."

"We were ordered to kill anyone who fucked with Maxwell," Lyer retorted dryly.

"So where were you when they cut the cuffs off?" Duo retorted, rubbing at his wrists.

"You look like you tried suicide," Rin noted, studying his wrists. "Just not very hard."

"I think what I did was a _form_ of suicide," Duo retorted. "I feel awfully rank, so I'm gonna find a shower."

"Good for you?" the man gave him an interested look, then grinned. "We can wash your clothes, but until then we have nothing to put you in. Our stores didn't include clothes."

"Get me a list of your stores," Duo returned easily.

"Why? So you can see how fast we're sinking?" Rin rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, you don't have to get anyone out here to..." he hesitated as two little boys went running between them with sticks. "...attack us. Wait long enough and we'll all just starve."

The two boys met with a handful more, pretending to shoot each other before running down another hall.

Duo stared.

They had _children_?

"What?" Rin asked blankly. "You so high and mighty you'll get offended by a bunch of kids?"

"Why the _fuck_ are there kids?" Duo demanded, focusing on him with wide eyes. "Why the _fuck_ do you have kids on here?"

"Everyone on this ship left Rab's camp for their own reasons," Rin noted in a low voice. "The kids just stayed with their parents."

Duo stared at him, then looked back to Lyer. He was relieved to see the same alarmed expression in his eyes.

Those kids had run through gun-fire to get on the ship?

"Anyway," Rin noted, rolling his eyes and started up the hall again. "We don't have clothes to put you in."

"I have some pants you can wear," Lyer muttered, considering his body. "Probably be tight...but I'm the biggest of us three."

"Wonderful, commando in another man's pants," he looked to Rin. "My boyfriend will be _thrilled_."

Rin's eyes sparkled.

Duo rubbed at his hair and shuddered slightly. "How bad do I reek?"

"Not too bad," Rin reassured him quite happily. "I don't have to hold my nose—though I think I need to go find you a toothbrush."

Duo laughed at that and exhaled at the man...which he got smacked for before Rin froze and stared at him.

"I'm not gonna kill you when I'm being an ass," Duo retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Showers there," Rin muttered, giving him a mildly nervous look.

They turned into the bathroom area, which was a twisted hall that opened into a locker room. The men who'd been in the area laughing and talking together fell silent as they saw him, and quite a few of them avoided eyes.

"Did I get hit with the ugly stick?" Duo demanded of his companions as he strutted toward an empty bench.

"Not that...I...can tell," Rin noted, looking him over almost skeptically.

Duo smirked at him and pulled his shirt off.

"Holy _shit_," Lyer muttered in disbelief...and poked his back.

"_Ouch_!" Duo danced away from that, swatting at the man. "What the hell was that?"

"Fuck," Rin muttered, stopping Duo's motion with hands on his shoulders. "You have bruises here," he outlined the sore areas of Duo's back lightly. "And they look _deep_."

Duo stretched his neck, taking a long slow breath. He wasn't going to complain after his pain had been cut more than in half...but that spot ached again, and it hadn't really been catching his attention before.

Rin pushed on one of his shoulders, considering his chest and arms, before indicating his pants and looking up to Duo.

"You just wanna see my junk," Duo muttered dryly, dropping to pull his boots off. He wasn't entirely sure why he hadn't been stripped. The boots still being on his feet was weird—but at the same time, they weren't laced how he'd had them done.

His feet probably stank.

The notion made him grin as he kicked them toward the lockers and pushed himself back up. No matter what he said, Quatre wouldn't accept him dropping his boxers for another man, so he slipped out of his pants carefully before and considered his own legs.

Damn that was deep bruising.

"What the hell happened to you?" one of the men asked, sounding half-awed.

"I got caught by my enemies," Duo noted dryly, looking up to consider his face. "This is mild compared to some of the shit that's happened to me."

"You're Maxwell, right?" another man asked quietly. "Brigadier Maxwell?"

"I'd demand a salute, but then things'd get uncomfortable," Duo retorted, opening the locker to make sure it was empty.

"What are you doing out here?" the first man asked blankly. "We aren't doing anything."

"You're still associated with the terrorists," Duo retorted, giving him a look.

They both looked away from him.

Duo snickered, looking back to Rin, who was frowning. "Oh, come on," Duo protested, gesturing at the men. "That was funny."

"With all due respect," Rin noted, crossing his arms and starting to shake his head. "It's really not."

Duo laughed at that, knowing he was being a dick, then stripped out of his boxers.

"I'll get your toiletries, sir," Lyer muttered, his head bowed as he moved around.

"If you're going to walk around saying shit like that, I'm gonna have to ask you to stay in your quarters aside from medical attention," Rin noted quietly. "It's scary enough to have you _on_ the ship without you implying that we're the same as Rabid fucking Marsh."

"Aren't you?" Duo asked. "We've been getting remarkably little on what you actually _are_."

Rin frowned at him.

Duo grinned, starting for the showers—two or three cleared rather quickly. "Listen, I'm here as a fucking refugee, alright? I hadn't meant to come out here at all, I'd just been debating if I wanted to take the transport back to my people when the girls and them showed up," he flicked the water on, then gestured at Lyer. "Thanks."

The man nodded, then turned and headed back to the locker area.

"I'm not asking for a list of your supplies to see how much time we've got before you die. I'm asking for your supplies so I can get them to reimburse you for my presence."

The soldiers nearest looked to each other nervously.

"Give me a few minutes so I can get clean," Duo added, running his hands through his hair and shuddering as stuff started coming loose.

Rin nodded thoughtfully at that and moved away from him, thinking as the other soldiers watched him go.

Washing up was both heaven and hell. His hair seemed to be layered in dirt, grime, and dried blood. Clumps of blood would fall out and wash down the drain...the water coming off of him wasn't clear, either. He felt like he'd rolled in a pig-sty and washed his hair in chicken blood. He was glad the soldiers were giving him space, because he was sure he was a walking fuckin' _bio_ hazard.

He knew for sure that the ship had a water-intake and treatment center, and it was running off of solar heat. If he hadn't known that, though, he would have hurried...

Ouch.

Duo cringed as his finger touched a wound in his head—Tannit had slammed his head against the wall a couple times when he was leaving. It hadn't concussed him, but it'd certainly broken skin.

He hoped the others had _killed_ Tannit.

Ouch...ouch ouch ouch...

It was hard to work himself into putting the soap in his hair, and after he'd managed that and scrubbed his scalp, he started laughing weakly.

He was bleeding again.

"Uh...you're...um...he's _bleeding_," one of the soldiers who'd moved into the shower called back over his shoulder.

"What?" Rin demanded, moving into the area with a towel in his hand.

"I'm fine," Duo reassured him. "Just gross...I have a cut on my head."

Rin groaned, tossing him what turned out to be a hand-towel. "Why are you still _bleeding_?"

"Torture does weird things," Duo retorted, dropping back against the wall so _that_ held the towel to the damn wound. "One dose of Remalene is stellar, but not enough."

"Are you okay?" Rin demanded pointedly. "Are you _okay_?"

"I'm okay," Duo reassured him, pulling away from the wall and sighing. "I now get to wash one-handed...but I'm alright."

"Mentally?"

"I'm fine," Duo repeated. "Are you washing my clothes, or what?"

"Your man took them down to the wash room," Rin gestured with his head in the direction. "For some reason he thinks you're safe."

"You're too nice to gang up on me at once," Duo reassured him, looking the various men over. "Besides, one or two men against twenty?"

"So...he copped out?" Rin perked up.

Duo grinned at that, focusing on his task. He was going to have to rinse his hair out again, which might start the bleeding again...why was it _that_ tender after Remalene?

The blood must have dried on it and created a sort of seal...and washing had removed that...

It was easier once he'd stemmed the bleeding. He kept the towel at hand, though, and scrubbed the rest of his body over twice for good measure...then started at the stubble all over his face in exasperation.

He didn't want to _shave_, damn it...and that was what? Four days now? Four days growth.

Maybe he'd leave it...see what Quatre thought of it if he kept it trimmed up...kinda gave him a rouge-ish look...

Quatre would _flip_ seeing him like this.

Duo went back to washing, figuring it'd probably be easier to filch a couple more doses of Remalene from them—and food. There'd been a request made to provide them with food anyway. If he was there and mooching off them, the officials would be more inclined to paying them back.

"You drowning yourself or what?" Rin called when most of the showers had emptied out. The entire area had quieted down.

"I don't want to borrow Lyer's clothes, for some reason," Duo returned, turning to look at the man. "He back yet?"

"Not quite...you use up all that soap?"

"Nearly," Duo showed the man the bottle with a grin. "I was locked up for three fuckin' days with no shower available. I still feel gross...and I hurt."

"We can go back down to the infirmary," the man noted. "I'm sure Amy will get you some analgesic creams...and something to put on your head. You think it'd need stitches?"

"No..." Duo fingered the spot. "Maybe a butterfly or two...a protective something or other, too."

Rin considered his face a long moment, then indicated his wrists.

Duo sighed and ripped the gauze off of the first one. The water touching it through the gauze had hurt, and the water falling onto it stung. He shook his head, focusing on washing that. It had healed beyond bleeding, at least.

"Sir?" Lyer moved back into the room. "Your clothes are clean...and dried."

"Awesome, thank you," Duo muttered, looking up to him. "Can you get me something to eat?"

"Right...coffee?"

"No...that'd be a bad idea. Just water...maybe a pepsi."

The man grinned at him and disappeared again.

Rin sighed, moving over to grab a towel from the shelf of clean ones...as a woman moved in with her two boys.

He was the last man in the shower—he hadn't realized that.

Her cheeks colored instantly, and she averted her eyes as her boys stared at his bruises in disbelief.

"Sorry," Duo muttered, moving over to take the towel and wrap it around his waist quickly. "I won't be much longer."

"It's fine," she muttered, still not looking at him. "I apologize myself...I know this is the men's, but the women...and..."

"I'm not horribly worried that you saw me," Duo noted in amusement...as Rin half shoved a tooth-brush in his face. He started laughing, taking the thing from the man and moving to the long sink to do that. His mouth _felt_ gross. He brushed twice for good measure, then moved to sit next to his clothes. He pressed the hand-towel back to his head and appreciated a moment of quiet and clean.

The woman had gone into another set of lockers, so he decided to dry off and get dressed—really, that was the thing to do, wasn't it? He had to laugh, though, as Rin sprayed his boots with a neutralizing spray.

The man gave him a look.

"Timorre must love you," he noted in amusement. "You must like, clean up after him and shit."

"There are children in the room, Maxwell," Rin retorted. "Please watch your language."

Duo laughed at that, pulling his pants on over his boxers. He sat then, pulling the socks on. "Don't take me wrong here...but we really _need_ to know what you're doing, how you stand...and what you'll do next. If your supplies are running as low as they seem to be...how are you going to take care of these people? The only reason you haven't been boarded yet is because this is no-man's land."

"Jaden's trying to figure that out now," Rin shrugged, sitting next to him—he was occasionally spraying the spray into the boots.

"They don't smell _that_ bad, do they?" Duo demanded blankly.

The man shrugged, starting to fiddle with the can. "You have to understand, Maxwell. We all went with Rab for a reason."

"Gerrange is a charismatic psycho. If he hadn't gone into the military, he'd probably have started a cult," Duo pulled his shirt on, then raised the hand-towel to his head again as he considered the other man. "Obviously something didn't go the way people wanted...though I still haven't figured out how independence would fix that."

"The ESA is _far_ too dictatorial," Rin met his eyes. "They decided things arbitrarily with the least amount of information possible. It gets old."

"So you...follow a sociopath, hack the military database and steal high-class information, fuck up the satellites...and run away?"

"We were saving Matt," Rin pointed out.

"Because we couldn't," Duo noted pointedly. "And you expect me to just agree with you?"

"You were _right_ there, weren't you?" Rin hissed, leaning toward him. "Well...You and Chang were in the suits—why the _fuck_ isn't that machine destroyed, by the way...but Yuy, Winner, _and_ Barton were right there, and we got Matt right from under their noses."

Duo narrowed his eyes at the man...and felt a vague satisfaction when he recoiled and nearly stood. "We didn't think of Timorre as an enemy," he growled in a low voice. "Not until he made himself one."

Rin looked away.

Duo shook his head and pulled the boots to himself. It didn't take him long to pull them on and get them laced, and he stood. He was sore...that was so annoying...but at least he wasn't confined. He could do anything on the ship.

He inhaled slowly as the boys, who were in the water, started laughing.

"What happened after I passed out?" he demanded.

Rin, who hadn't stood, shook his head. "We don't know, really," he muttered. "We don't get updates from the military; we get them from whatever television channel we pick up with news on—at least now. Before we had people who'd go in and out a bit. You came in with the last of our people last night."

"Then I'm gonna need to get to a vid," he noted, looking to the bloody towel a moment. He couldn't just throw that in the dirties. That was unsanitary—it was bad enough he'd gotten blood in the shower.

He wadded it up and looked back to Rin. "Let's go back to the infirmary."

"I have your food, sir," Lyer came in with two plates. He had two bottles of pepsi dangling, too. "Where do you want to eat?"

"Thanks," Duo took his stuff and tucked the bottle into a pocket. He took a moment to open the carton, then started to eat as he left the shower area. "I'm gonna get the nurse to look at my head," he noted to the young man as he ate. "And then I'm gonna find a vid...then probably sleep. What do you think, Rin? Can you spare me another dose of Remalene?"

"The ladies last night brought in plenty—and if you think you need it," the man shrugged. "We're not going to piss off the ESA if we can help it."

"That's why I want a list of your supplies," Duo retorted. "I feel almost human again..." he muttered sidelong to Lyer. "Do I look it yet?"

"Mm...maybe," Lyer reassured him. "You don't stink, at least."

Duo laughed at that...and went back to eating.

- -

"Hello?" Quatre muttered, rubbing at his eyes. They felt sandy from lack of sleep and stress.

"Hey, lover," Duo muttered happily. "You still alive over there?"

"Duo?" Quatre gasped as tears filled his eyes, then closed them tightly. "Oh god...are you back to base yet?"

"Not yet," Duo returned almost carefully. "I was sleeping until a bit ago. I showered and ate, then called Heero...he told me you don't have a vid, and I'm not nearly healed enough to want you to see me yet."

"That's not funny," Quatre muttered back, dropping over where he lay.

"I only had Heero tell me you were all alive and accounted for," the other muttered. "You wanna give me the update? I just want to hear your voice."

Quatre swallowed the lump in his throat, focusing on the ceiling of the humvee for a long moment, then licked his lips. "They ran...scattered like fucking cockroaches. We spent last night trying to protect the towns closest to the base."

Duo didn't respond.

"We have no idea where Gerrange got to, either. He was trying to bluff that he still had you and Wufei and Trowa hung up on him...and that was that. We took out that base entirely. The building is gone...but the men who could got away in the vehicles there. Not many were left behind, and they were cursing about some explosion."

Duo sniggered a bit. "I took out at least two when I was leaving. I wanted more fireworks to put them into chaos, but it just didn't happen."

"Nice," Quatre groaned. "So what's going on with you? Why aren't you back on land? Matty insisted Jaden doesn't even want you there..."

"I told you," Duo persisted. "I only woke up at about nine, then went and showered. They washed my clothes and I stole some toiletries...when I got done, I got their nurse to look me over. I'm gonna take some more Remalene here when we're done talking, though. I still have a few...abrasions."

"You took a dose and passed out," Quatre noted pointedly. "And even with that, you want another dose. Duo...are you _okay_?"

"I have a gash on my head and some pretty deep bruising. It's nothing to worry about. All I need right now is sleep. I'm gathering information and stuff, so I get something for being out here. Are _you_ okay? Heero mentioned you were having issues with me gone...and whatever possessed you to even _consider_ getting Sandrock?"

Quatre made a noise at him and closed his eyes.

"That bad, huh?" Duo sighed. "Fine. Let's get something out here right now. If you _ever_ get Sandrock out...if you _ever_ put power into that thing, I will be _pissed_."

"How else am _I_ supposed to get you out?" Quatre exploded, fighting back tears. "I'm not like you guys...I'm not..."

"You're not alone," Duo snapped. "You are _not_ alone."

Quatre fought of the tears again. "I can't _live_ without you," he half-choked. "I _won't_."

Duo fell silent a long moment, but the agitation was alive in his voice. "I'm not going to die that easy, and you know it. If you want to do some fucking damage, then go _do_ it. Don't pull that machine out when it drove you _fucking_ nuts!"

Quatre had to focus hard to keep from crying, the anger in his lover's voice was almost too much for him to deal with. "I love you," he muttered. "I do."

Duo took a long breath and swallowed himself. "I love you too," he agreed. "I'm totally pulling you off to our own room when we all get back to base...and it's not even to fuck."

Quatre smiled slightly at that.

Duo sighed. "Quatre, I want you to take the time right now to think, alright? I want you to...to think about where I am now, and how I got here. I want you to consider _why_ I stayed with Gerrange for three days, putting up with that shit...when we hang up, I want you to think about that."

"Heero told you more than that we were all accounted for," Quatre noted tiredly, considering how he'd been feeling the past few days.

"Of course he did," Duo said quietly. "He didn't say where anyone was or anything like that, he just said you were...upset."

Quatre snorted at that.

"Right now, though...you said they scattered? They're attacking cities?"

"Yes," Quatre agreed tiredly. "Well...not attacking precisely...I think they're trying to find somewhere to re-group and defend. Timorre might be interested to note that there were food supplies in the base that we stock-piled by the river's edge so we can pick it up when there's less going on. The guard is mostly on the other edge of the area."

"That is an interesting tidbit," Duo mused. "So tell me what happened...in detail. I can't wait to hold you again."

"So come in," Quatre said quietly. "Come back to the base...and...and come with me back to Peru."

"Not yet," Duo said quietly. "I really want to know what's going on here, and that won't happen if I leave. So talk to me...just...tell me."


	9. Nine

**A/N:** Just as a note, i managed to not paste chapter one from "Gone Round". it's up now, so...yeah. rarr. moving along...

1 of 3 updates to end of the story.

- -

**Nine**

Jaden frowned as he watched the men unloading the supplies he'd stolen under Maxwell's suggestions. The man had informed him of the situation, all the information he'd gotten from his lover...repeatedly noted the unguarded state of food stuffs from a base that was razed...and then wandered off with Qingfu.

He'd been wandering around on his own forever before they decided that they needed to spend time with Jaden again...and Jaden had been half-praying for Maxwell to take his damn Remalene.

Qingfu thought he was _hilarious_.

Their conversations...were almost painful. They had little comments they'd make and follow. It wasn't unlike Maxwell declaring he'd been reading and that was why he was covered in bruises.

It was beyond exasperating.

Where Maxwell had gone the second time was a mystery, however, and Jaden wasn't fully sure he wanted it solved.

Jaden looked to Armend, vaguely amused. He was steadfastly avoiding Maxwell, and every time he was near Jaden, he was looking around. His paranoia was amusing to see.

"What are you grinning at?" the man asked him a bit petulantly.

"I was just thinking how interesting it might be to get Maxwell down here when you're backed to a wall and can't get out. I'm tired, though, so I won't bother. I am, however, heading up to my suite," he turned and started away. "You don't really have to keep an eye on things, but I'll let you if you want."

Armend smiled slightly at him.

Jaden nodded in response, then turned and wandered toward his room. Either Qingfu would be there full of...exciting...information about the god of death, or he'd be out and about and Jaden would have some genuine quiet time.

The room wasn't large, it had a king-size bed in the middle of one wall with a good foot between it and a wing-back armchair in the corner...there was a dresser on one wall and a closet on the other—then the door to the small bathroom. It was called a suite, though, because it had a living-area and a kitchen with the bathroom...which were empty.

He could _hear_ low voices...which meant...

"What would you have me do?" Qing was muttering from the armchair as Jaden pushed the door to the room open. "Send them away?"

"I just don't...I _can't_ comprehend the presence of _children_," Maxwell retorted. "And...I mean..."

He fell silent as Qingfu looked up, then looked to Jaden as well.

"I thought I got away from you," Jaden protested to the man, exasperated.

Duo Maxwell...Duo _fucking_ Maxwell was in his room. Not the hall, not the council room, no...no, he was _in_ Jaden's _bedroom_ and _**on**_ Jaden's bed.

"I'm stalking you, darling," Maxwell retorted. "Every time you rebuke me, I know you want me more."

Jaden shut the door and gave Qingfu a level look.

"What's up?" Qing asked, nonplussed. "Did the supplies get in?"

"You should have taken that transport back to that base," Jaden noted, focusing on Maxwell. "There were soldiers there."

"Yes, but I'm still wounded enough that I honestly don't _want_ to go back yet. My lover nearly went apeshit."

"Your lover?" Jaden didn't really _want_ to know, but he couldn't help but ask.

"Quatre," the man agreed. "He's...not the most mentally stable sometimes."

Qingfu slapped a hand to his face.

"Your lover is Quatre Winner," Jaden noted, realizing how much that _really_ figured. "Your boyfriend is the one and only heir to a multi-_billion_ dollar company...and in light of your comment, he's also one who fucked _up_ a handful of colonies when his father died."

"Yeah," the man agreed happily. "The one and only."

Jaden dropped onto the foot of the bed.

"He nearly went and got his gundam to come fetch me when he realized I was out here, too," the man noted in that same chipper voice.

Jaden raised his head to stare at the man.

Qingfu gave him a look. "You still haven't explained why I _watched_ those machines explode on television."

"Nope, I haven't," Maxwell took a drink of a water-bottle. "I'm horrible like that. Let's change the subject. I had a _marvelous_ idea earlier."

Jaden raised an eyebrow.

Qingfu gave Jaden an exasperated look.

"Mercenaries."

They both looked back to him skeptically.

"Yeah," Maxwell persisted, sitting forward. "We don't have enough men out in these damn jungles to keep watch on every city, and my friends were out last night trying their damndest to keep the enemies from getting a foot-hold. They're worried because their line only extends so far...and from what I understand, you lot seem to be lacking funds to do _anything_."

Jaden glanced sidelong to Qingfu to see if this information had already been suggested. His friend was blinking blankly, though, startled.

"So...you go to a smaller town, use what weapons you have...keep the bad guys away...ask for money or supplies. It seems sound to me," Maxwell looked between them.

Jaden closed his eyes, feeling his heart-rate quicken. He could see how it might work...but...

"And...what...would you want...from us?" Qingfu asked in a soft voice. "To keep your men off our backs, what would...we..."

"Don't get in our way, don't cause problems..._prove_ you're not against us."

"And what if we are?" Jaden gave him a level and semi-pointed look.

The man rose to his feet, all power and grace, considering Jaden from that height. A slight smirk crossed his face...and he just looked evil. "Get on your knees and pray," he suggested, moving around the bed. "Because the god of death is quick to judge and even quicker to act."

Jaden watched him stride from the room, then looked back to Qingfu as the door closed.

Qingfu smiled slightly at him, moving from the chair and onto the bed. "He's just..._powerful_," he whispered, considering Jaden's face. "Leaves an impression..."

"If you're honestly turned on enough by _him_ to fuck me," Jaden noted levelly, "I will backhand you and throw you in cold water...besides, I still don't know...if I want to..." he shifted back slightly as Qingfu moved forward.

Qingfu's eyes were dancing as he pecked Jaden's cheek, and he bounced to his feet. "I'm gonna go follow after him and see what he does next—and lord only _knows_ what he did with his spies. He called the base with the one at hand, and Yuy repealed his order...and that's exactly how he phrased it," Qingfu considered Jaden from the door, rolled his eyes...and disappeared.

Jaden dropped backwards on the mattress...and tried to figure out what the _fuck_ had happened to being the one in charge.

- -

"Brigadier," the man who called himself Clint Robbs sounded half-choked. "With all due respect, you can't...just..."

"Just...what?" Duo asked happily. Rin had followed him happily from the captain's suite, and before they'd even gotten out of the upper hall, Timorre had joined them with the suggestion that Duo run his notion by the council.

"You can't...I..."

Duo grinned at the kid, amused. He was actually a twenty year old by the name Maron Clint, a third class ops man—this was probably his first assignment alone. "I'm confused...who's gonna tell me no?"

The guy's stress peaked and he ran his hands down his face.

"Calm down," Duo suggested quietly. "In case you hadn't noticed, the ESA is gauging how much of a threat Illicit is or will become. Setting them to a task will keep them occupied and make them _do_ something. I shouldn't have to remind you that I'm a Brigadier General."

The guy fidgeted a long moment, then nodded his head.

"So just introduce me as who I am," Duo added, grinning slightly. "My reputation tends to precede me, so it's not like we have to grab the smoke and mirrors. Try _not_ to react when I start talking."

"Why are you _doing_ this," Clint hissed, giving him a put-upon look.

"Because I can," Duo returned, leaning forward so they were eye to eye a moment, then turned and swept into what was called the council room.

The people all flinched, obviously holding themselves back from standing—all but one man, who rose to his feet and stood at attention, saluting him without meeting his eyes.

Hoxha.

"At ease," Duo reassured him calmly, amused, because Timorre and Rin had both rose respectfully as well. Hoxha looked annoyed, but the set-up meant that he couldn't disrespect one of his own generals.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Clint muttered, moving around Duo. "May I present Brigadier General Maxwell of the Earthsphere Alliance. General," he nodded his head respectfully and started forward...to the end of the table. He pulled the chair out as the council members shifted irritably.

The "head" of the table was a figurative spot, and out of respect for Timorre, they tended to leave the opposite end empty.

Duo grinned around at all the aggravated people, then sat and brushed his hair back as he considered faces. It was a casual move, and Timorre and Rin took their seats.

Hoxha wasn't looking at anyone, eyes at the far wall.

"Please," Duo muttered, focusing on him. "Sit."

Hoxha nodded, still not looking at him as he did.

Duo considered him a moment, then looked around and nodded to Clint. The young man sat, meeting eyes almost proudly.

"You know," Timorre noted thoughtfully. "It's come to my attention that you had three men with you on arrival."

"Ah, they're around," Duo gestured vaguely. "For...legal records...I've heard you referred to as the captain, the president, and the supreme ruler. Which is your preferred title?"

Timorre rolled his eyes.

"Captain Timorre," Rin reassured him, grinning slightly.

"I suppose you're all wondering why I asked us to meet with...the good general," Timorre looked skeptically at Duo a moment. "I don't feel like discussing my...titles... so I'm moving right along. I figured since _Brigadier_ Maxwell," he emphasized the rank very slightly, "has some current information, he might like to...enlighten us."

"So kind of you, Timorre," Duo muttered happily, meeting eyes again. He was rather amused at the state of things. The people in the room were both scared and resentful of him, they didn't know how far they should respect him, and they were utterly clueless as to how to proceed.

Timorre looked _so_ exasperated.

That was awesome, the _man_ was awesome.

Duo grinned at Rin, rising to his feet again and gesturing so Hoxha and Clint remained seated. He considered the information he'd been given as he started to pace, then slowed and met eyes. "I'm going to start off with the simple truth. I will not tell you why my gundam is out and about...or Heavyarms."

Rin rolled his eyes expressively. He was sitting at Jaden's right, though his seat was more beside the other man's than not.

"That is what it is, and that's all you get to know about it. As for the...other... machine you may have seen in news broadcasts...all you get to know is that its name is Demigod and it's piloted by Chang Wufei."

The people in the room exchanged glances.

"Forgive me," Duo muttered, starting to pace again. "I wanted that information clear from the start to avoid irritating questions later. Now," he stopped again. "As for my presence here...as much as I'd love to say you don't need to know," he grinned ruefully, "I still have a few too many bruises to pretend to be all uppity."

"Tell them what happened, Maxwell," Rin encouraged in amusement.

"Yooou think you're funny," Duo retorted happily. "But you're really not."

"You think that's the _first_ time I've heard that?" The man actually looked confused.

Duo laughed, then shook his head as he forced his mind back on task. He shook it a little harder, then looked up to the people watching him. "I got caught."

Jaden snorted.

"As you should know," he went on easily, "since you left Gerrange's camp, he decided it was a logical move to raid cities without military posts." He shrugged slightly. "Obviously that meant we'd gathered as much information from them as we could afford."

Looks were exchanged.

"I mean," Duo added, "figuring out where his resources were...how _slim_ they were...how many more we had to look out for...we wanted to nail down his network. That's still in process, but...well, they were challenging us, and we decided to answer the call."

"High talk," Rin retorted. "Get to the meat."

"What would you say if I told you I was a vegetarian?" Duo couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry," Rin reassured him just as happily. "You'll get over it soon."

Timorre laughed silently a brief moment, shaking his head, then gestured at Duo to continue.

Duo grinned, then focused on the tale. He explained how they'd gone to Peru, how they'd gotten the call of a new raid...and how they went to interrupt the caravan. It seemed that Rin couldn't help but interject, demand, or prod at him as he went, but it also seemed to be the norm, because no one seemed bothered. There was a bit of bother when he noted that he'd been tortured...the people seemed disturbed by that.

It didn't take him very long to sum the tale up after that, trailing off as he reached the part where he'd arrived _at_ Illicit.

"And then," Timorre noted in a false-chipper voice, "you took some Remalene that Qing was nice enough to give you, called a man who wants my blood...and promptly passed out so I got to talk to him."

"You _are_ the one who kidnapped his husband," Duo retorted. "I can't help that part."

Timorre rolled his eyes.

"Today," Duo added, looking around again. "After I'd showered and eaten, I called my boyfriend...and got the update."

He _missed_ Quatre.

People exchanged more looks.

Duo ran a hand through his hair tiredly, wishing he'd just taken his pills like he'd told Quatre he would. He'd have slept a few more hours, then arranged a transport back to the mainland...back to his friends.

"Sorry," he muttered, looking toward the window. "I haven't seen Quatre in five days...and it's the longest we've been apart since we got together."

"Forlorn lover," Rin retorted. "Getting on task helps you forget."

Duo turned and gave him a look, then sighed heavily. "He told me that our lines can't extend beyond where they are at this point, but the base _scattered_. There had been no word or sight of Gerrange himself since he tried to insist I was still on the base—that was after I arrived here and called to let them know I was alive...so..."

"Maxwell had an idea," Rin noted when Duo trailed off again. "He suggested it to Den and I earlier...I think it has some promise, but it'll take some faith on our part."

"And what is that idea?" one of the men muttered, looking between them with interest.

"Mercenaries," Duo returned, moving back toward the table. "You have soldiers, you need money or supplies, and the ESA has come to realize how little a threat you are," he indicated Clint. "Which means if you don't look at us with your hackles raised, we'll leave you in peace until we can focus properly to deal with you."

"Oh, _that_ is a lovely way to put it," Timorre grumped.

"My apologies," Duo reassured him. "I just want it obvious that if you're helping us, you don't look so much like terrorists."

"What is this obsession you have with intimidation?" Rin demanded, looking up to him in exasperation.

Duo felt an obnoxious thrill and moved in and down so he and the man were eye to eye, any movement would cause them to touch. "Because I'm _damn_ good at it," he growled, studying Rin's eyes. "I have the power, the means, and the will to get things done, and when dealing with people who are _already_ scared of me, it just makes the job _that_ much faster."

Rin had frozen utterly, staring back up to Duo with slightly wide eyes—Duo wasn't even sure he was breathing.

God the man was fun...

Duo pulled away, wondering how he looked with four-days growth on his face as he studied the other men and women of the council. "To be honest-to-fucking God," he noted, straightening with his hand on the back of Rin's chair, "I don't give a rat's fucking ass what you guys are doing out here. You're not fucking with the people I risked my life to protect. For all I care, you could float out here until you all starved."

Rin shifted slightly back in his seat, not quite meeting his eyes.

Duo moved away from the chair, looking from face to face. "The only reason I'm standing here treating you as equals," he smiled coldly at them, "is because I have nothing better to fucking do. I took Rin's Remalene," he noted, pointing at Timorre as he looked back to the man. "I admit to that—and I admit to it knowing your stores of everything have been depleted. I ate my fill today, knowing your stores were depleted. I will take a second dose of Remalene shortly and eat another full meal or two tomorrow...because I'm not just going to waltz out of here and leave you idiots to your own. There was a request for a week's supply of food," he indicated Clint.

Some of the people at the table actually looked surprised as they looked to the young man.

"I fully intend to give the orders to accede to that request," Duo pointed out. "But I can only give you _so_ much before you have to do for yourselves...and you're absolute fools if you decide _not_ to go through with my plan. Mercenaries can apply for and receive international permits to move anywhere on the planet or in space. Mercenaries can apply for and receive benefits when they've assisted the ESA. Mercenaries make _money_ to do what they do, or can barter for supplies. If you lot want your independence so bad, then take it in the legal bounds. It's true that mercs have to follow the laws of the ESA—but in this day and age, becoming your own nation just to get out from under their thumb is a sure way to keep yourself from becoming an independent nation. You have to build up your _credentials_," he slammed a hand hard to the table so some of them jumped. "You have to make us _acknowledge_ that you've got your shit together and you'll play nice with others...and _then_ you can actually say you want to be considered a country."

"Don't come in here lecturing _me_," Timorre growled, rising to his feet and placing his hands against the table. "Don't come in here with your better-than-thou speeches, Maxwell..."

"Better than thou," Duo laughed, looking around a moment, then met Timorre's eyes. "Don't even pretend that I won't kick your ass, soldier. There are _worlds_ of difference between our classes."

"You were an L-2 street urchin," Timorre growled.

"And I dug myself out of the _fucking_ gutter to one of the highest ranking offices our military has to offer. _You_ came from a stable family with happy siblings and got into petty fight after petty fight. You earned the reputation of one who needs watched, and joined with a scatter-brained _imbecile_ for some misguided attempt at independence. You _kidnapped_ a nineteen year old from his very _home_ and drug him across parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa before _attempting_ to take him to Brazil, nearly getting him _killed_ in the process. He can't be alone half the time, he's _terrified_ that someone's going to come grab him—he can't take anything that induces sleep, because he's _terrified_ he's going to wake up in some unknown _**fucking**_ country handcuffed to the _mother **fucking** bed_. Don't you _dare_ presume I won't kick your _**fucking**_ ass!"

"I think we should break," Rin noted quietly, rising to his feet, looking between the two males.

"If you're fool-hardy enough to ignore me," Duo spoke up, looking around and ignoring the man, "when I'm giving you a way to keep from being arrested and imprisoned for treason, terrorism, evading, conspiracy, and a laundry list of petty offenses, then I hope you do just stay here and starve...with all your fucking _children_."

Timorre's temper, evidently, had snapped, because he dodged around Rin...and Hoxha launched _over_ the table to grab him around the waist.

Duo considered the pair a moment, then took a ready stance. "Stand down, Hoxha."

"Sir, I can't allow you to..."

"_Stand **down**_," Duo snarled. A quick and dirty fight would help him relieve a _ton_ of frustration, especially if Timorre was as good as his old reputation had suggested.

Hoxha hesitated, obviously torn as Rin moved up to try and help restrain the president...but Hoxha didn't have a choice—Clint moving around the table purposefully cemented that fact.

He let Timorre go.

Duo smiled as the man rushed at him...and hoped no one _else_ would try an interrupt.

- -

Quatre was pacing.

"Lay down or I'm gonna knock you out," Trowa ordered tiredly.

"Easy for _you_ to say," the semi-blond snapped back, glaring at Blake. "You went and got laid."

"Quatre," Trowa protested.

Heero started untangling himself from Matty, who was sleeping just as heavily as Blake.

"You're not _alone_," Quatre hissed to Trowa.

"Duo's fine," Heero reminded him. "He should wake up in a couple hours and we'll get a call from him saying he wants a helicopter out there or something."

"No he _won't_," Quatre retorted irritably, giving him a dark look. "He hasn't even slept yet."

"What?" Heero asked blankly.

"He's doing _something_," Quatre snapped back, then turned and kicked his bag across the floor.

Jinli started hard, turning from where he and Wufei had been back-to-back to blink at the man in confusion. Matty had already been waking up from the noise, and pushed himself up to blink as well.

"What's the matter?" Blake muttered, not bothering to move off Trowa.

"Just...go back to sleep," Quatre gestured vaguely at the young man. By his expression, he felt bad for waking the three—he was very aware that his friends had _not_ been sleeping.

"Come here," Heero ordered, grabbing Quatre's arm. The man fought him at first, but Heero ignored that and pulled him in tightly. It took a moment for Quatre to respond, but if he could comfort Matty without words, there shouldn't be an issue consoling one of his oldest friends.

Quatre collapsed against him, burying his face in Heero's chest.

"Come on," Heero muttered over his should to Matty. "The three of us can fit on the big bed."

Matty rubbed at his face a long moment, then grabbed his pillow and climbed wordlessly from the twin.

"He's all pissed," Quatre muttered, looking across the room at the closet. "He didn't take his pills like he said he would earlier...but I didn't realize that until he got all pissed. He's so _annoying_."

"We knew that, though," Heero reminded him, pulling away and tugging him toward the larger bed.

"They took the supplies from the river-bank," Quatre complained. "Why couldn't he have come back then?"

"It's Duo," Heero reminded him quietly. "He's probably gathering information. Any of us would have if we were suddenly on Illicit. It's an unknown quantum." Heero eased Quatre onto the bed, which made the semi-blond blink and Matty smirk.

"I just had this dream," Jinli muttered, sounding like he was already half asleep. "I had this _huge_ axe and there was this like...beanstalk...that went out to the colonies...but the stalk was starting to wilt, so they told me to chop it down."

Wufei snorted.

"I know! It was beyond stupid...but it was growing out of this _block_...like that stupid game Matty and Blake were playing...and I had to chop it down and break the block...but I'd like...run out of fire or something like that..."

"Just how _close_ were you watching that game?" Matty muttered in disbelief as Heero settled between Quatre and his boyfriend.

"I was having Blake explain it to me when he was playing...tell me that's not some _stupid_ shit."

"How do you even _dream?_" Wufei retorted. "I don't know any guys who _dream_..."

"Which is why you had that one about collecting figurines?" Jinli retorted. "Because you _totally_ didn't have some big ol' retarded adventure in that."

Wufei started laughing. "Yes, but that ended in sex...I don't see your game ending in sex."

Matty started laughing.

"Well...I suppose if he saved enough of those peasants or princesses or whatever," Blake noted, "one of'em'd be _bound_ to be easy, huh?"

Wufei started laughing again.

"_What_ever," Jinli sounded almost offended by that. "I didn't even know there _were_ princesses in that stupid shit."

Trowa snickered, too.

"I guess that didn't really help my case, did it?" he muttered in Chinese, yawning.

"Not really," Matty agreed happily...in English.

Jinli blinked at that.

Quatre yawned, snuggling against Heero's side, then snorted disconsolately.

"Wha?" Matty muttered through a yawn.

"He doesn't smell right," Quatre explained.

"I think he smells good," Matty retorted, nuzzling at Heero's shirt.

"'m game for a threesome," Heero noted, yawning himself. "Just let me sleep first."

Matty started snicker.

"Keep wishing," Quatre retorted sarcastically.

"Why not?" Heero asked happily, pulling Matty closer to him. "I have been for years."

Quatre started laughing weakly.

"If you ever say that shit to me," Wufei noted firmly, "you know I'll deck you, right?"

"The words will never cross my mouth," Heero reassured him, grinning down at Matty. "Where you can hear."

Jinli started laughing.

Matty rolled his eyes, then closed them.

It was nice to be doing the shared-room thing again. He'd really appreciated it before the apartment had been torn apart.


	10. Ten

2 of 3 updates to end of story

- -

**Ten**

"So you know, I'm all shit-faced drunk, pretty sure I'm not _really_ eighteen yet, but fuck it if my I.D. says it, right?" Duo couldn't help but grin. "And we're trying to stumble along quietly to the room...but one of'em was saying we needed to be quiet and the other was insisting we were...and I don't think there was a man sleeping after we passed the quarters...but it was the first time Quatre had gotten drunk, right?" Duo looked up to Rin again with a grin. "So he's all...'guys? I don't feel well...' at us, and we're all 'you're fine, you're fine!' as we're herding him along the hall." Duo wiped at his mouth with the gauze around his wrist as he thought back. "And he just...you could _see_ it," he mimicked the motion of someone about to barf. "So I'm pretty sure me and Heero both yelled for him not to puke—because come on," he gestured a bit, "that's as easy as it is, right?"

Rin started snickering, covering his face with one hand.

"So we're saying for him not to do it, don't do it...stop...just wait...all sorts of helpful instructions—and who _knows_ what's going on in his head...and Trowa was the only one who wasn't too drunk to react. He'd gone while we were telling Quatre not to puke...and _barely_ made it in time...I'm talkin' the skin of his _teeth_ before he gets the can under Quatre."

Timorre started laughing weakly, not bothering to move. He hadn't in a long while—the fight had been delightfully nasty, and they'd both drawn more than enough blood for it.

Duo wasn't horribly startled that he'd gotten in the final series of blows, but he had been startled by Rin interceding and _throwing_ him backwards. The man had been ready to take over the fight, but Duo'd realized he'd ripped the cut on his head open again...and he'd lost his taste for it.

"And Marsh had been...I don't know," Duo shook his head as he thought back. "We'd gone past him, evidently. And he comes up just _yelling_ at us about waking everyone up..._yelling_," he looked between the two men. "In the middle of the night, lecturing us on waking everyone up!"

Rin groaned, covering his face with his hands.

"And...I mean, really?" Duo wiped at his face with the gauze again. "We're a bunch of fuckin' eighteen year olds...and drunk..._hammered_. Quatre had finally stopped spitting into the trash and noted 'we may not have done it yet, but you sure as hell _have_ woken everyone up now...but the pope." He started laughing—which was pretty much what they'd done back then. "The pope...we were all like 'what the _hell?_' and Quatre realized how random that was...started laughing himself, all embarrassed. He used to get embarrassed all the time," he shook his head some more. "Was only after we found Matty that he stopped getting all embarrassed for the shit he says like that."

"Matty," Timorre noted quietly.

"Yeah...uh...Mattox Williams? You _kidnapped_ him, shit..."

"You call him Matty?" Rin asked, blinking a bit.

Duo shrugged, thinking about it. "It's how he introduced himself to Heero, so Heero introduced him like that to us. Quatre and I were trying to start calling him Matt, because...Matty kinda sounds like a kid's name...but he insisted that we call him it. He said that only people who don't know him or aren't close call him Matt."

Timorre started rubbing at his face.

Duo shifted back slightly, looking back to Rin. "I guess one of his superiors bitched _him_ out for waking everyone up...Marsh, I mean. He pointed out that a bunch of drunks pass through the halls and make some noise, but they get to their rooms and pass out. Marsh stopping us in the hall to shout at us was a lot of consistent noise, not to mention the note of authority—I don't think the guy told him that part, though. I just remember when I wasn't doing anything, I'd stop and listen to someone getting bitched out."

"Is he really...that...bothered?" Timorre asked quietly.

"_You_ followed him," Duo protested, blinking at the question.

"Not _Rab_," Timorre snapped. "I meant Matt."

"Oh," Duo blinked. "Say what, now?"

Timorre moved the ice-mask and towel from over his eyes to consider Duo levelly.

"Oh!" Duo laughed, remembering the words he'd been throwing in the council room, then sobered. "Oh...yeah." He sighed, shrugging slightly. "Yeah. He is."

Timorre dropped the stuff back onto his face.

"When we first got him back," Duo sighed. "I wanted to strangle everyone."

Rin tilted his head.

"First and foremost, of course, the pair of you fuckers for taking him to begin with..."

"If _I_ could take him from under your nose," Timorre noted in a tight voice, "then you know damn well that Ranger could have."

"But if you'd maybe...talked to us," Duo pointed out. "Told us you were worried because Hanager's fucked in the head...asked if you could _help_ us..."

"I already got the lecture from the kid," Timorre snapped.

"Oh yeah," Duo agreed, not able to help his aggravation. "Around when you threw your fucking _beer_ at him."

"Jaden!" Rin was startled.

"I was _drunk_," Timorre groaned back, rubbing at his temples. "He was acting all scared of me and I was _drunk_."

"Imagine that," Duo noted lightly. "Nineteen year old kid gets abducted and drug all over hell'n creation...and he's scared of his captors, especially when the level headed one is passed out and the psycho is _drunk_." Duo thought back a moment to what Matty had said. "And weren't you checkin' him out while you were at it?"

"_What?_" Rin demanded. "Jaden..."

"I was _drunk_," Jaden persisted, moving the ice and towel to glower at the other man. "And don't _think_ I won't _**fuck**_ you up," he threatened, glowering at Duo.

"Get off your high horse before you fall off," Duo suggested. "Because Matty is _my_ friend. He's _my_ fuckin' family. If Gerrange wasn't fuckin' around in Wing gundam or MS through the city streets, you wouldn't have made it even _half_ way to Hong Kong."

"Please, Maxwell," Rin muttered quietly, looking down. "I know it wasn't...good...but we couldn't...Ranger thinks it's _his_ fault that shit went south on 27. He ended up being somewhat vindicated, too. He _knew_ something was wrong with Matt's phone, and the kid wouldn't add him in..."

"Couldn't," Duo corrected acidly, studying the man's face. "Because when I bought the program, I didn't set it up so he could."

Rin stared at him.

Timorre pulled the towel and ice up to look at him.

"I honestly forgot," Duo added, looking between them. "Pax is like breathing to me. I control the ebb and flow of the programs without hesitation. He'd never been able to afford it, and none of his friends could, either. It didn't even occur to me to set the administrative to him, let alone show him where any of the controls were. On top of that, Heero's made a patch that just..." he shook his head with a grin. "Suffice it to say that a phone with Pax and Pan on it has all _sorts_ of neat little...perks. We nearly shit ourselves when Hanager's name and rank showed up, though," Duo shook his head. "It was damn _hard_ to think that Matty was in the hands of a Special...and we couldn't help." He shook his head harder, trying to clear the memories.

"I felt so bad," Timorre muttered quietly, massaging at his temples again. "I was trying to sweet talk him into adding us and letting Ranger try and twist him into it...and I didn't call it when I should have. He was just...his nerves couldn't even be called 'in tatters' when Rab finally came in and chased Ranger off. He'd been _handling_ it well, though...same story, not freaking out...and then just..." Timorre trailed off.

Duo had dropped his head back as the man spoke, forcing himself to remain calm. Timorre had admitted his wrong-doing in the matter and made sure Matty understood it, it would do no one any good for _him_ to freak out about it again.

"When 27 was under attack," Timorre added quietly, "when the sirens were going off and he and I were off together...I kept expecting him to run for it, but he stayed _with_ me. He said he'd listen to me, and he followed every instruction I gave him...and even after I'd spazzed and hit him...he still stood up for me when Yuy would have shot me."

"And then knocked you out," Rin noted happily.

"No...I knew something had to give," Timorre raised the edge to look at Rin a moment. "I couldn't _really_ hurt that pain in the ass—he'd made sure to get on my good side..."

"Bullshit," Duo snapped irritably, forcing himself to calm before going on. "He wasn't trying to get on your fucking _good_ side...shit, act like he's nothing but devious...he's _nineteen_."

"You saved the world at sixteen!" Timorre half-shouted in response. "You..."

"Oh, _give_ me _**patience**_," Duo half appealed to nothing in particular. "Matty was _not_ a part of the military! His family was _not_ part of the military! He was just some kid workin' fuckin' _retail_ when Heero decided he was hot shit! The most exciting thing he'd probably ever _did_ was give Yuy his number! You can't hold him to the standards of a nineteen year old in the fucking _military_. You know what he was _doing, **Jaden?**_ He was talking to someone who kept him _safe_. He was telling you things he thought you might _care_ about because you seemed to care about _him_...so don't go giving me those _bullshit_ lines about him being some devious manipulative little punk who did everything in his power to keep you from being able to shoot him—fuck! Even jumping in front of Yuy wasn't to win _you_ over. _You kept him safe!_"

Timorre was blinking at Duo, his expression obviously startled.

Duo took a long slow breath, attempting to pull in a bit of meditation. If he kept this up he was going to attack the man.

"I..." Timorre hesitated, then pushed himself up slowly. "I know...that...but..."

"He is _not_ that utterly innocent, either," Rin noted quietly. "I'm not saying you're lying," he added when Duo focused on him. "I talked to him when...uh...we were...with him," he glanced at Timorre. "He _is_ a devious little shit."

"He did tell them where you were," Duo conceded, frowning slightly.

"Did he?" Rin asked blankly.

"At the border of Western Sahara?" Duo gave him an interested look. "He told them you guys were still at the border crossing...then...what country."

Timorre looked back to Rin almost pointedly.

"He did _not_," Rin looked offended. "I was _right_ there..."

Duo had to think again for the details of _that_ story. He had to grin as he thought his young friend over...the jackass _could_ lie like a _dog_. "And those little cupcakes he likes so well are sold at a bakery on West Sahara—pretty close to where he worked," Duo gave Rin an amused look. "When he _was_ working, he'd take lunches and run over there to get them."

Timorre smacked his hands to his face as Rin started laughing, shaking his head.

"Though his, uh, phone sex...was pretty damn funny too," Duo noted, looking between them.

"The little shit _told_ us he'd told Yuy where he was," Timorre noted, laughing weakly. "We asked him what all he'd given away and he said he'd told the man where we were...I just thought it was his exasperation...but..."

Duo grinned at that.

"Oh man, he did a number on my ribs," Timorre noted, looking up to Duo again. "I was gonna _strangle_ him. It was when your cloak fucked up...and he was just being a little _dick_, pointing out all the little lies he'd told us...all little ones...I hit him," he admitted with a slight frown. "And he _kicked_ me...twice! And used the momentum to break the railing...I'd had him cuffed to a little one. He nearly nailed Qing upside the head," he gestured with his own head at Rin.

Duo smiled very slightly at that, looking away.

"I thought it was killer," Rin noted, smiling slightly at Timorre. "Real ballsy...I almost wished he'd have knocked me out. He deserved it after a move like that."

Timorre smiled back at that.

Duo ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "Anyway...after he jumped out of the helicopter..."

"Fell," Timorre corrected.

"Rolled," Duo retorted dryly. "He knew you were still over the helipad and was _not_ going to Brazil."

"He's not in Brazil now, is he?" Timorre perked up slightly.

"No...we're in Borde del Rio."

"You said as much," Rin agreed. "Which is in Peru—so not in Brazil."

Duo conceded that with a shrug. "One of our men who was with them...he called me. By that point we knew it was done...Me, Quatre, and Wufei. We knew the game would be up before we were out of bed. So we were just kinda laying there waiting for the call...and we get this call from a third-class ops man saying he wanted to hear my sexy voice...and Matty took the phone." Duo smiled back at the moment of relief he'd had. "But, you know...Heero'd just gotten him back, and they weren't even off the helipad...Hanager had been tackled to the ground and roughed up by Trowa...so things were still in chaos...so all I'm hearing is multiple people talking, I have _no_ idea what's going on...then my call waiting starts beeping...I just wanted to smack them _all_."

Rin grinned at that, nodding his head.

"I wonder if he'll accept my apology," Timorre muttered quietly.

"Oh, probably. The annoying thing about him is how fast he can get over things...or at least...anger."

"He really can't be alone?" Timorre looked up.

"Well...that's backed off," Duo admitted. "He'd quit his job not long before you took him, so when he got back he was spending the days with Quatre...Quatre'd quit his job, too. None of us really thought about it, but...Quatre said one day he'd gone to the base, or to run errands or something...and shit, you _saw_ what happened to our apartment. It was being rebuilt, which meant men in and out of it, moving around and building things...talking and stuff. Quatre said when he came home, Matty looked like he'd probably cried, was curled up in a tiny ball in the corner of his bed...covered in blankets and hadn't come out of the room at _all_."

Timorre hung his head.

Rin looked away, shaking his own head.

"So if you ever start wondering why Yuy'll probably pound your face in...just think about that. Think about this outgoing spark of light suddenly huddled in his room and crying."

Timorre shoved himself irritably from the bed, pacing the small area without looking at Duo.

"It took...about three months, I think, before he came out of it like that," Duo noted, looking to Rin. "He's started college, though, so it's not as bad as it was. He doesn't trust soldiers, though, not unless he can tell they're the ones Quatre's okayed."

"We get it, Maxwell," Rin said quietly, studying the floor.

"You will, in the end," Duo agreed. "From what I got from Quatre, though, he's worried about you both. I don't get _why_, but I've seen it myself anyway. When we got the call about Illicit showing up, he was all over demanding if you two were okay...and then Quatre was saying he's been talking to Heero quick and fast every time you two come up. I really want Heero to go bloody-mary on your fuckin' ass," he added, looking to Timorre. "I did the stupid thing of putting myself in association with you, so our fighting can't be one-sided...at least, not from my side. I have to wait for _you_ to attack before I can beat you down—no one will think twice about him doing it."

Timorre half-smiled at him, though it looked more like a sneer. "Don't you have some pills to take? I coulda sworn you were leaving my ship today."

"Whatever gave you _that_ idea?" Duo asked brightly, considering him over. "I'm having far too much fun pissing you off for that."

Timorre gave him a dirty look.

Duo laughed happily, then hauled himself up. "So...yeah," he noted. "I am gonna take this and pass out—just be advised that whilst unconscious, my men will guard me—I'm half tempted to get them to pull Hoxha in..."

"Don't fuck with Armend," Timorre snapped, turning back on him irritably. "He's going to leave the ESA, but it's too late to just pull out like the rest of us did."

Duo smirked at that, starting for the door. "I hope you sleep well. Rin," he nodded his head.

"Call me Qingfu," Rin muttered tiredly. "And quit fucking with my man."

Duo snickered at that—he'd gotten an explanation of the game Rin was playing with Hoxha...but part of it was also for Timorre. He nodded his head to the captain, then moved out into the main room of the suite.

He really had _not_ meant to put the pills off so long.

Quatre was going to _freak_.

- -

Trowa sighed as he raised the cigarette to his mouth, then fished out the lighter. He didn't talk about it all that often, but he'd smoked from like, twelve to thirteen...and a few times after that, too.

His cell started ringing.

Maybe Duo'd pulled his head out of his ass.

Trowa snorted slightly, pinning Blake to the wall and leaning in to his ear. He started whispering to him, shifting his legs wider as he kissed on the other's ear. Blake braced his body with his legs, gasping almost breathlessly. His nails trailed up Trowa's back until he could grab his shoulders, and Trowa focused on grabbing his thighs. He needed to brace him...he preferred the bed, but he didn't want to wait anymore.

The phone started ringing.

Trowa blinked at the dark ceiling.

"_Answer_ it," Heero snapped. "Or turn it off."

Trowa blinked again, pushing himself onto an elbow as Blake made a little upset sound and rolled over.

"_Trowa_," Wufei snapped.

Trowa hit the silence button as his mind worked out fact from fiction. The bed _had_ been about four feet behind them...but that had been....hours...ago. He blinked at the name on the front of the phone a long moment, then popped it open. "I'm about to get skinned," he explained quickly and quietly as he slid off his bed.

"I get the rug?" Lu asked happily.

Trowa forced himself not to laugh as he moved across their shared room and out the door. "Sorry...though you just interrupted a very nice little dream."

Lu laughed happily at that. "What are you guys doing?"

"Sleeping," Trowa noted dryly, yawning as he leaned against the wall. "We were out all night."

"You were out with the frickin' teams?" Lu demanded, sounding mildly offended. "I disown you. How's Duo? He's not answering his phone."

"He fried his phone before they grabbed him," Trowa retorted.

"So he hasn't bought a new one?" she snapped.

Trowa blinked a few more times, rubbing at his face. "He hasn't come in yet."

"_What?_" she shrieked at him.

"Why did you call me if you were going to freak out?" Trowa demanded, rubbing at his nose. "You can't blame me for what that idiot does."

"Where _is_ he?" she sounded about to start crying. "I heard he was grabbed...but you guys _decimated_ that base..."

"Do I sound like I'm mourning?" Trowa asked sourly. "Do I sound like I'm _worried?_ No? Well, that must mean there's _nothing wrong_."

"But..."

"My ops guys took him out to Illicit," Trowa explained, sighing dryly. "I ordered them out of the base, he was in their escape vehicle, and he's..."

"So how are you getting him out of a _ship?_"

Trowa took a very long and slow breath as he rattled off a list of questions, then blinked as the door opened.

Blake came out, looking around, then smiled and moved into his arms, kissing at his throat. "Who is it?"

"Lu," Trowa whispered back, shifting him in more to his body. "Lu?" he added as she took a long breath herself. "Can you calm down? Has there been any information you got that has him still held? We _will_ call you when the genius gets back here, but _until_ then, you have to bear with the ass just as much as _I_ do."

"I don't...Trowa...Illicit is captained by...by _Timorre!_ He's the one who _took_ Matty!"

"Thank you for the update, I guess _my_ sources forgot to _mention_ that."

"Oh, don't be a fucker," she snapped. "What the _hell_ is going on?"

"Duo is out on Illicit," Trowa repeated. "As soon as he got on it last night they gave him Remalene," he couldn't help the false happiness in his tone. "He passed out and woke up this morning when we were coming back in. He said he was taking another dose of Remalene, and _then_ he'd come home."

"They...gave him...Remalene?"

Trowa blinked as Blake started kissing on his throat, his hands moving down Trowa's abs to his waist-line. He grinned at the guy and shook his head.

Blake's eyes _sparkled_.

"He...they gave him some..." Trowa tried to catch Blake's hands as they moved into his pants, looking around nervously. If they got _caught_, his ass was _fried_. "Uh...Quatre was saying he hadn't took his pills a few hours later, though..."

Holy shit his hands were _cold_.

Trowa closed his eyes and pursed his lips to keep from making a noise.

"What are you doing?" Lu asked suspiciously.

"Sorry...just...cold," he muttered.

Blake snickered silently and bit at his peck.

Oh, the _asshole_...

"Uh...listen...can I..."

"I don't understand what's going on," Lu sounded fretful.

She was just as bad as Blake..._wow_...that was...interesting...

"Is he just...they aren't holding him, right?"

"No," Trowa returned, fighting to keep control of his breathing and voice. He was going to skin Blake...take him to that other room and...

"No?" Lu snapped.

"Can't I just call you back...in a few minutes?" Trowa nearly hissed that time...and Blake's eyes were _far_ too bright.

"Just answer me and you can go back to bed," the woman's voice went hurt as she spoke.

Oh, the pair of them!

"Duo's probably making contacts on Illicit. Yuy told my ops guys with him to call whenever..." _ooh_... "whenever..." _shit_... "if Timorre decides to use him. Timorre made it blatantly clear that he doesn't actually _want_ Maxwell on the ship and...Rin interjected saying he needed medical attention. I'm assuming when Maxwell...decides... to come in..._fuck_."

"What?" Lu asked blankly. "Fuck what?"

Blake snickered.

"I stubbed my toe," Trowa hissed back, looking back to Blake. "Uh...what was I..." he swallowed. Blake's hands were warming up nicely... "Oh...um..." he licked his lips. "Last I heard from Maxwell, he was...going to take his meds and sleep through most of the day, but Quatre..." he bit his lip. "What did he say? He said that Duo was _pissed_ and...that he hadn't taken the pills."

"You've said that a couple times now," Lu sounded confused. "You sure you're okay? Why do you keep calling them by their last names?"

Ooh...that felt good.

Trowa laughed a little, pressing his hips back against the wall before he knocked Blake over. "I'm tired," he muttered, not meeting the younger's eyes. There was far too much amusement in that. "We figure Duo'll call us when he gets what he wants...done."

There was movement in a side hall, and Blake looked that way. He pulled his hands away and leaned against the wall beside Trowa before he could get his mind around the noise...as an MP patrol hesitated at the intersection.

"Name and business," the one leading ordered.

"What?" Lu asked.

"MP," Trowa returned. "Obviously I'm on the phone," he added pointedly.

The man drew himself up.

"Brigadier General Barton," Blake snapped.

"Who is that?" Lu asked blankly. "That sounded like...Blake. That's Matty's friend, right? The one Matty said you were fucking?"

The soldiers gave Blake a skeptical look for responding when they hadn't addressed him.

"Yeah...it is," Trowa agreed, looking up to the ceiling a moment. "Hold on. Move along," he added to the MP.

"Unless you can prove your..."

Trowa grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall, meeting his eyes. "Look closer," he suggested pointedly.

"Sir, please," one of the others muttered. "We're charged with keeping the hall cleared after hours...I...I recognize you, Sir. I vouch for you."

"So kind of you," Trowa muttered dryly, letting the man up and glaring at him as he moved back to his friends and saluted.

"I'm afraid we have to file a complaint," the other man noted. "Physical force is unnecessary."

Trowa leveled him with a dirty look.

"Uh...Sir," the man saluted, as did the third one who'd remained silent. "But this young man..."

"Is my _guest_," Trowa pointed out, realizing his aggravation was a little high. Granted, he'd been rather enjoying Blake's presence before they'd interrupted.

"I vouch for him," the third hissed, grabbing the second's arm. "Let's go... before you make him mad."

The other two exchanged dark looks.

"We ask that you return to your rooms and don't wander the halls without the appropriate certification," the first noted pointedly. "We'll let it slide this time with..."

"_Soldier_," Trowa snapped, annoyed enough with them to pull rank.

The men fell into attention, eyes widening...then darted off the way they'd come.

"Don't be mean to them," Blake protested when they'd disappeared. "And you _totally_ deserve that demerit."

"Chances are," Trowa noted, turning to pin him to the wall, "they'll get in trouble for bothering _me_."

"You're on the phone," Blake whispered, smirking.

Trowa rolled his eyes, then leaned forward and kissed the other. He raised the phone to his ear as Blake licked his lips and grinned. "Lu?"

"Yeah, you chase'em off good?"

"Very good," Trowa agreed, running his own thigh between Blake's. "You content now? Duo'll call us when he gets bored...we'll get him a phone quick-like and make him call you?"

"I guess," she muttered, sounding tired. "Be careful, alright? Duo being grabbed was scary enough. I don't need the rest of you hurt or anything, alright?"

"I'll be careful," Trowa reassured her as Blake tried to move back—he was also trying not to laugh. Trowa, however, wasn't feeling the 'no' or 'stop' vibe from him, so was gonna go with it a little longer. "I'll make sure the others stay careful, too, huh?"

Blake hesitated very briefly, then went back to trying to...climb over his leg or something. It was kinda funny, really.

"You take it easy, alright?" he added. "You need to heal up so you can get back on the field. You're too good for us to be missing long."

She snorted.

Trowa laughed a little.

"Make sure he calls me, right?" she demanded, sounding almost petulant.

"Right," Trowa agreed, kissing at Blake's throat. "Definitely."

"Okay...I'll talk to you later, then...I didn't wake everyone up, did I?"

"Wufei and Heero at least, but they should be sleeping by now."

Blake licked his lips again, glaring up at Trowa...before going back to the 'get away' thing.

"Tell them I'm sorry," Lu ordered. "And call me with updates...I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Yeah," Trowa agreed, pulling the phone from his ear. "Sleep well." He closed it, then met Blake's eyes pointedly.

"You totally thought it was hot," Blake whispered at him, giving up and raising his hands to Trowa's waist. "We really shouldn't be...be doing this in the hall."

"I need to get my badge and we can hit the other room again," Trowa reassured him, pulling away. "Unless you're an utter bastard and are going to tell me no. In which case you should start running now."

Blake snickered, shoving at him. "Hurry up."

"Besides," Trowa hissed as he pulled the door open. "You _totally_ started it."

- -

"Are we gonna let the leg-work get done for us?" Wufei muttered seriously. "I don't think they've got Wing working any better than we've got Demigod. That means they probably took it out on a flat-bed sometime before we got there. Obviously we need to find it, but do we need to do it ourselves?"

"We've got our lines as far as they can go at the moment," Quatre noted quietly, running a hand through his hair. His disposition had gotten ten times better since Duo'd called, but the melancholia was returning since it was early in the morning of September first.

Considering that Quatre'd gone up to L-4 on August twenty-fifth, it'd been about a week since they'd seen each other. That was entirely beside the emotional stress of Duo being grabbed and tortured.

Heero glanced sidelong at Matty, who was half dozing against his side.

"We need to coordinate with Duo," Quatre added thoughtfully. "Whatever we do next, we need to figure out _what_ he's doing. Timorre's guys took the food-stuffs we'd gotten out of the wreckage, which means they have a bit more time before they have to scrounge for food. Chances are, Duo's gonna get them that week's worth the ops man Clint requested—so we won't have to worry about them raiding for two weeks...maybe three. If we're really lucky, a month."

"Three weeks," Heero corrected.

"Jaden wouldn't raid like that," Matty noted sourly.

"He wouldn't use a hostage, either," Quatre retorted. "But what did he tell us? Get rid of Ranger for him and he'd let you go? Sounds hostage-y to me."

"Don't be bitchy because your boyfriend is off fucking around."

Quatre's expression flashed to pained before he looked away, nearly pouting.

"You believe me, don't you?" Matty muttered, frowning up at Heero.

"He cares for his people," Heero explained quietly. "At a certain point you have to _do_ something or give up—giving up in his case would probably mean ten to thirty behind bars."

Matty's expression turned hurt.

Heero looked away, noting that Blake was fully lounging in Trowa's lap—to the point that he doubted Trowa was paying attention.

"Who called?" Wufei asked curiously, following Heero's attention to the pair. "And what the hell was the racket?"

Trowa blinked, looking up to him as Blake looked quite languidly around to him.

"Lu," Trowa explained after a moment. "She was asking why Duo wasn't answering his phone—I managed to explain it to her eventually..." he poked Blake's middle, which made Blake snigger. "And then the MP showed up. I wasn't in the mood for anymore interruptions so I chased them off."

Wufei rolled his eyes.

"She wanted me to apologize for waking you all," he added. "I don't think she'd realized we'd be sleeping."

"It was sort of late," Heero pointed out.

"I know...but she hadn't realized we were out all night either."

Heero nodded.

"So...what did we decide to do?" Trowa asked, looking from face to face.

Heero sniggered, covering his face with his hand.

"If you two keep playing love-birds," Wufei informed Trowa and Blake in a calm voice, "I'm going to pluck and fry you, and serve you to the MP with butter."

Blake giggled.

"You know, I never thought Trowa'd be so...touchy...in love," Wufei noted sidelong to Quatre and Jinli. "I thought he'd be the more steadfast and thoughtful."

Trowa snorted at him as Blake looked around to him with interest.

"Don't bother," Matty suggested to his friend dryly. "Just peel yourself away from him so he can think."

"Hey!" Trowa pouted at him...then at Blake as the guy did push away. He gave the guy a petulant look as he stood, using Trowa's shoulder's to balance himself...and flopped around behind him on the bed with a yawn.

"Did you have _fun_ after the call?" Matty added dryly.

"Quite," Blake agreed, curling up to Trowa's back. "'m tired."

"And you...realize...how disgusted the rest of us are?" Matty persisted.

"We didn't use the bed," Blake reassured him. "You can."

Trowa snickered.

Wufei sighed, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling.

Matty shrugged, looking up to Heero.

Heero couldn't help but grin at him, finding some appeal in the notion, then pursed his lips and looked around to the others. "So what did we decide to do?"

Trowa started laughing.


	11. Eleven

**A/N**: And that's all she wrote...for now. I hope you all enjoyed the story, and I'll see y'all again in the seventh (and should be final) installment of 'Chance or Circumstance'.

3 of 3 updates

- -

**Eleven**

Trowa sighed as he raised the cigarette to his mouth, then fished out the lighter. He stopped at the commissary and gotten himself a pack when the craving started haunting him. That was before they'd decided to double team and he'd basically gotten chased off into the jungle. Quatre was off with Jinli—because evidently they were one entity, and Heero and Wufei were working on Demigod.

Trowa's cell started ringing—hadn't that been in the dream? Though, that had gone straight to sex, hadn't it?

Maybe Duo _had_ pulled his head out of his ass.

He shook his head, raising his phone to read the face...huh. He didn't know that one.

"Hello?"

"Brigadier?" the man on the other end was aggravated.

"That's a bit vague," Trowa noted. "Care to enlighten me?"

"Why is my _son_ in Peru?"

Trowa blinked at that.

"Last I heard there was still _fighting_ in South America. I wouldn't choose for my boy to be down there at all, let alone _in_ Borde del Rio."

"Kiardane," Trowa noted, considering the man's annoyance. "Interesting. How come you're calling, again?"

The man went silent—it was the pissed sort.

Trowa sniggered slightly, looking around as he inhaled again. "Okay, so, for the record, I didn't invite him or suggest he come. In point of fact, I was ordered to leave him behind—the thing is, Maxwell got grabbed."

Kiardane sighed tiredly. "So I heard—you know, before I tried to call my son? It was the strangest thing because the line at his apartment just kept...going to voice mail."

"I can't help that," Trowa noted pointedly. "Nor can I help the fact that he hasn't called you. Just to be specific, I'm sort of in Brazil right now...so I can't give him the phone. _Why_ are you calling me again? I'm pretty sure Blake is twenty."

"So help me lord, I'd _skin_ you if he didn't think so much of you."

"You, uh, realize...we're sort of a couple now, right?"

"Considering all the shit that Williams boy has gone through," Kiardane noted pointedly, "there's a lot that could be said about it—but I am aware you've been bangin' my son pretty consistently for a couple months now."

"So do I get to look forward to these conversations all the time? Or just when he hops the flight to Peru Williams and Wong are taking? Because, uh, _Maxwell_ got _grabbed_, and in case you didn't realize it, we're all sort of friends."

"You're _paying_ for his trip, right?" Kiardane snapped. "He doesn't have much money, and lord knows if he even has a _job_ after taking off like that."

"You know, it never occurred to me to ask," Trowa mused thoughtfully. "I have no idea how he got down here."

The man sort of growled at him.

"Listen, old man," Trowa muttered, "I'd love to let you bitch at me about your son being impulsive and all, but not only am I kinda happy he's here, but I'm sort of in the middle of this huge search going on in the Amazon jungle. It's down in Brazil, you know? On the South American continent? Well, it was the _weirdest_ thing," Trowa flicked the ash from the tip of his cigarette, considering the cherry thoughtfully. He'd never hear the end of it if the others realized he'd even had _one_ smoke, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "There were these _enemies_, and..."

The line cut.

Trowa grinned slightly, dialing Heero—or rather, Heero's extension, which he had linked to whatever console he was nearby by the simple expedience of his cell-phone and Pan.

"Yeah?" Heero asked with interest.

"Blake around?"

"Oh sure," Heero was nearly indifferent, and silence followed.

"Hello?" Matty asked uncertainly.

"Is Blake around?" Trowa repeated, wondering what Heero was doing that had his attention.

Matty laughed a little. "Sorry about that. Heero has his phone set to auto-answer for you guys; his phone beeps all weird and...he didn't even get up, he used his phone."

Trowa snorted at that.

"But I'll go get Blake."

Trowa rolled his eyes, moving closer to the tent as he inhaled again. Quatre had a print-out of a satellite scan, and he and Jin were pouring over it intently. He had all sorts of pins and flags and things set up, and Jin seemed to be following along. Trowa'd intended to at first, but that was boring.

"Hello?" Blake asked almost eagerly.

"Hey, lover," Trowa greeted him—then realized what he'd said. He rolled his eyes at himself, then dropped to the dirt. "I just got the _most_ interesting call."

"Did you?"

"Yeah...it seems your dad didn't know you'd come down here."

Blake started laughing in disbelief. "Oh no! I was hoping he wouldn't realize I'd left at all! What did he say?...where's my...my phone is gone."

Trowa _snorted_.

"No! I'm serious! It was in those pants you threw across the room...aw, _man_..."

"So you've been avoiding his call," Trowa decided happily. "So he called me and was _all_ pissy."

Blake sniggered.

"Nice, Blake, nice..." He inhaled again. "How _did_ you get down here, anyway? I mean...there's no way you coulda had the funds."

"Jin...bought the tickets," Blake admitted. "I'm not sure how."

"So I owe Wufei," Trowa snorted slightly. "Alright...listen, if you need anything on the base itself just get Matty to swipe his card...we could do the espousal thing and join the club...might be easier in the end, but..."

"But then we'd have to divorce to end it," Blake noted. "And if I ever got married or anything again I'd have to explain."

Trowa snickered. "So no...no espousal for us...but...just get Matty to do it."

Blake snorted back. "Right...and I'll borrow from Heero or Wufei and let you pay them back, because unlike Matty and Jinli both, I'm perfectly content for you to buy me shit. Was that all? I need to find my phone—why didn't you call it, by the way? Or did you?"

"I didn't think to, I just figured you'd be with Heero...and you might get roaming charges down here. I suggest you use Heero's phone to call your dad, huh? It's cheaper that way. I gotta go...see ya in a few hours, huh?"

"Alright. Take care...love you!"

The call ended before Trowa could properly respond to that. He blinked a few times, then smirked, considering the phone a moment.

"Get in here and quit being a lover-boy," Quatre ordered, glancing up at him. "What do you think this is? And _don't_ bring that _damn_ cigarette in with you—you'll reek enough without it."

- -

"Did you just...get off on pissing Rab off?" Qingfu muttered curiously as Maxwell lay on the bed next to him. They were in Qing's bedroom again, and the brigadier was stretched across it comfortably. They'd been talking for a good hour, and Qingfu was sitting at Maxwell's hip.

"I _suppose_," Maxwell returned skeptically. "It comes off what way to hear _him_ talk about it. _We_ weren't the ones telling the seventeen year old blond he was nothing but a sex toy."

"Winner was _all_ over the place," Qing protested.

"The how the hell did _I_ get his virginity?" Maxwell retorted.

"That's not _even_ the same," Qingfu protested. "He had girls..."

"You're not _hearing_ me," Maxwell cut him off. "_**I**_ got his virginity."

Qingfu blinked. "Oh...really?"

Maxwell nodded seriously, then yawned. "Okay...we gotta go do something or I'm gonna fall back asleep."

"You could probably use it," Qingfu noted. "You don't look half so bad as you did when you came in, but..."

"Yeahyeahyeah, I'd only let my boyfriend mother me so come on," he stood and stretched.

Qingfu stood himself, yawning, then moved to follow. "We should go check on the council."

"Remember?" Maxwell retorted. "They're scared of me?"

Qingfu laughed, moving after. "When _are_ we getting rid of you, anyway?"

"When I get bored enough to wanna go," he shrugged, grinning happily. "You seem to keep me entertained, though."

"Oh, darn," he noted dryly as he took the took the lead. "You gonna give me permission to use your name, or do I have to keep calling you Maxwell?"

"As if I give a shit," the man retorted, then thought about it. "Well...I guess that means its fine for you, because anyone else doing it would annoy me."

He grinned at the guy.

"What about you?"

"I told you last night," Qingfu retorted, heading down the way. "Call me Qingfu."

"I should come up with some random ass nickname for you," Duo retorted happily, looking around. "Let's go find my spies, I sent them to ferreting info for me..."

"Ha! So you _admit_ it!"

"What did you _think_ they were doing?" Duo's tone was disbelieving.

"The keyword is 'admit', Duo," he retorted. "Keep that in mind."

Duo started laughing.

- -

Jaden rubbed at his face as the people on the council continued bickering, wondering if anything would _ever_ get resolved. They'd started with if they _would_ become mercenaries or not, then got as far as what they'd charge...before someone had gotten pissed enough to note this was only _if_ they became mercenaries.

The entire thing was going in circles, and Jaden was pretty sure they were just _trying_ to piss him off.

"It's a _sound_ frickin' plan," Armend snapped. "He's right when he's saying about the perm..."

"Oh stop _parroting_ your superior," Verice snapped.

Armed stopped, looking around to him in disbelief.

"Obviously he wants us to _do_ this," Verice added, looking everyone over. "Has anyone asked _why?_ I keep thinking that...he called us terrorists, so _why_ would he give us an out?"

"Because the _hassle_ it'd be to prosecute _all_ of us," Jaden snapped. "Because we can _help_ him."

People shifted back to see him better, blinking.

"Don't go assuming the asshole just wants us in deeper shit. If that was all he wanted, he wouldn't have called and told his friends what specifically he was doing. He'd have called and said for them to come get him...or just left us alone." He started to pace up and down the long side of the table—Maxwell had been doing that before, and as little as he wanted to admit it, it helped him feel a little calmer.

"But, sir..."

"But _nothing_," Jaden retorted, giving the woman a sour look. "And you," he pointed at Verice, "need to pull your head out of your ass before I cram it up so far you see daylight again."

The man ducked his head.

Jaden considered the others, realizing he'd half expected Qingfu to quip about a never ending cycle or paradox or something...something inane and irrelevant to the overall conversation...

He didn't like that Qingfu found Maxwell amusing.

He stopped walking, briefly amused by his own jealousy. "So I have something for you all to think about before I chase you out of here...what _choice_ do we have?"

That made them look down and away.

"Which," he noted thoughtfully, "brings us back to the point where we were talking about charging. Think about _that_, ladies and gentlemen...and maybe later on today I'll bring you all back in here...but probably tomorrow."

There were nods all around as people started gathering up note books, not looking at him. He moved to lean against the wall as they slowly started to leave, then turned to look out the window to the ocean.

It was so strange...to be in charge. It was strange to make decisions and know they'd be followed. It was strange to...watch the ocean rising and falling all the way to the horizon with nothing to block the view.

"Mr. President?"

Jaden jumped, turning to blink at Clint.

The young man was standing at his place at the table with his lips lightly pursed. "I'm...sorry to...to bother you," he noted, picking up a folder in front of him. "But...I was told to give you this," he moved around and offered the file.

"And what is it?" Jaden asked dryly.

"Um...I'm not sure."

"Oh, don't lie to me," Jaden retorted, taking the thing and moving back to the table. "It's like you saying you _know_ a spy when we all know better than that."

"I'm sorry, but you're mistaken..."

Jaden pulled the knife from his waistband and pressed it to the young man's throat, looking down at him from half-lidded eyes.

The guy didn't move.

There was an inarticulate sort of snarl from the door. Even as Jaden turned his head to look at _who_ made the noise something slammed into his knife...hard. He was turning as the knife fell from his partially numb hand, raising his hands as Maxwell _flew_ at him.

"He was _testing_ me!" Clint squeaked...he _actually_ squeaked.

Jaden slammed against the wall hard, a thrill of adrenaline bursting through him as he waited for the inevitable pain...and nothing happened.

He swallowed, blinking at the brigadier general in confusion a moment, then to Qingfu, who'd caught Maxwell's arm before he could punch.

That was an altogether alarming sight.

"Just...trying to prove...if I'm a spy," Clint rushed on, moving up beside his superior.

"Well?" Maxwell growled.

"_Duo_..." Qingfu was still holding his arm back.

A slight amount of tension left those shoulders, and Jaden realized he was about an inch away from being pummeled.

"If he's not a spy, why would he know my record?" Jaden returned, allowing himself to relax as well. Behind him on the floor, was his knife...and Qing's. He knew it, because Qing had this habit of marking his things with the character for qing. It wasn't like Jaden could _read_ Chinese, but understanding came after seeing something repeatedly.

How had Maxwell gotten Qing's knife?

The man was glaring as he moved away, yanking his arm from Qingfu's grasp.

"I gave him the...folder," Clint added, looking around until he spotted the thing on the floor. It was open and the papers from inside it were scattered. "Like I was ordered...and he wanted to know what it was."

"What is it?" Maxwell muttered, shifting his shirt.

"The definitions used for applying for permits."

Jaden met eyes with Qingfu and rolled his own toward the ceiling.

"Well, pick it up," Maxwell gestured at the papers, then ran his hands through his hair...before turning to pick up the knives.

Clint didn't hesitate to dart to the ground, gathering the sheets up quickly.

"Here," the man muttered, passing his blade back to him before considering Qingfu's. "I'd apologize, but it'd be crocodile tears." He flipped the knife into the air, caught it, and tucked it into his belt.

Jaden nearly commented before Qingfu rolled his eyes...and _took_ the thing. It had gone down the back of Maxwell's pants, and he didn't hesitate in the slightest to yank it back.

"Heyheyhey!" Maxwell protested, his eyes sparkling as he turned back to the other. "I _have_ a man."

Qingfu grinned and traced the flat part of the tip under Maxwell's eye. "This is mine," he said happily. "See?" he showed the character. "Mine."

Maxwell grinned back at that, glancing to Jaden...for commiseration, of all things.

"You really need to get off my ship," Jaden informed the man in mild disbelief.

Maxwell _laughed_...it was a _genuine_ laugh. It made his eyes sparkle, and utterly transformed his face—even without the shave he needed...he looked _young_. He looked young enough to be carded before giving him alcohol.

"How...old are you?" Jaden asked quietly, blinking at the man uncertainly. He generally felt Maxwell was near his own age, but...laughing like that...

"Twenty-two," Maxwell gave him an interested look. "Why?"

Twenty-two.

Jaden stared at the _young_ man in a new light...really thought about his stories. He'd stated the ages of himself and the other pilots casually when he needed to, but the numbers hadn't meant much if they were compared to him and his friends in the Eve Wars.

"What?" Maxwell's amusement had tapered off, if not his good humor.

"You were just a boy."

The man's eyebrows shot toward his hairline, and then a wicked smirked settled into his eyes with the accompanying confidence, and he leaned forward to study Jaden's mouth a moment. "I assure you...I'm very much a man."

Qingfu started laughing and shoved at him...which made Maxwell start laughing as well and shove back. It led to a tussling mach as they tried to move one another. The game, because it _was_ play, took that seriousness away from Maxwell's face again...

Jaden had never really gotten it before, how the brigadier generals, the almighty gundam pilots...how they could be with some _kid_...some nineteen year old kid...

But they weren't _that_ much older than him.

Qingfu rolled them so he was pinning the man to the ground, and Jaden _saw_ him concede...just...admit defeat to lay there and laugh.

Qingfu looked up proudly to Jaden a moment...and squawked as Maxwell rolled them again...starting to laugh twice as hard.

"Here you go...captain," Clint muttered, almost laughing himself as he moved back from the pair.

Jaden took the folder from him, watching as he moved back as well. The younger looked almost like he wanted to join the fun...and then chairs started falling on them.

"Enough! Enough already!" Jaden moved forward with a grin to clear the chairs off his second's back. Qingfu dropped over sideways on the floor, nearly breathless.

Maxwell's eyes were _utterly_ sparkling again as he propped himself up on one elbow to look down at Qingfu.

Jaden wasn't sure he appreciated Qingfu quieting to hear whatever jewel of wisdom Maxwell'd come up with to grin like that...

"It was good for me," Maxwell noted, looking down the length of Qingfu's body. "Was it good for you?"

Qingfu started laughing harder, extending his arms to be pulled up as Maxwell rose. "Who said we were _done_ yet? You wanna roll with the big boys, you gotta go all night!"

- -

Epiphany was a funny word.

Jaden sat back in the armchair of his room as Maxwell and Qingfu laughed more together, exchanging ridiculous stories. They'd covered all _sorts_ of inane bullshit before landing on the topic of how many they could take one-on-one. Maxwell was the clear winner when it came to suits, so they'd decided hand-to-hand was worth the debate.

"And he's got me back like this," Maxwell extrapolated, bending over backwards and raising a hand to his throat to show how he'd been held...then raised one leg. "So I go all-knee...and just..._fell_..." he dropped back onto the bed. "Total ball shot, he's on the ground half on top of me, singing second soprano..." he glanced at Jaden's raised eyebrow. "Matty's sister's in choir—second soprano is _super_ high...like, only dogs can hear it high...and..." he went back to telling Qingfu how he'd slammed his own head and had to then escape while half-concussed.

The wild thing about it all was that Jaden didn't think he was _exaggerating_.

And how old had he been during _that_ fight? ...going one on one with an armed and fully trained adult soldier...

A door clicked, and Maxwell was instantly silent, his head turning to the door as he listened.

"Yo, Supreme?" Armend called happily, his voice heading for the room. "I'm totally going to interrupt the two of...uh...Brigadier!"

Duo smiled brightly at him. "Threesome, quartet...double the pleasure, double the fun?"

"Is it just me or are you _far_ too sexually inclined?" Qingfu demanded skeptically.

"I totally haven't gotten laid in a week," Maxwell retorted.

"I'm going to go for some _mature_ conversation," Jaden noted dryly to the men as he stood.

"Do you need something from me?" Armend muttered to Maxwell almost nervously.

"A quick blow in the back seat, a formal resignation...some lube..."

Qingfu started laughing, smacking at him.

"And what do you mean mature?" Maxwell called as Jaden started away.

"Not eighteen plus," Qingfu retorted. "Something with _substance_."

"Oh, baby, do it harder?"

"No no no," Qingfu retorted. "I'm gonna cum!"

The pair started laughing again.

Jaden looked back to Armend, who looked stunned. "Yeah," he agreed dryly. "They get along, I know."

"You're not...worried about it?" Armend asked almost hesitantly.

Yes. Qingfu's _way_ too taken with him.

"What? No," Jaden shrugged as he headed for his little kitchen. "they're just being stupid...they're rather good at it."

"_Oh!_" Maxwell seemed to be responding to him. "What if he comes back!"

Qingfu laughed evilly. "He'll join us."

The laughter turned wicked...and it went quiet.

Jaden couldn't help it. He turned to look at the door to the room...and both men started laughing harder.

"Um...wanna...walk the hall?" Armend asked, blinking at them.

"_Please_," Jaden agreed, leaving the little apartment. "What's up?"

Armend leaned against the wall as he studied Jaden, his expression thoughtful.

"What?" Jaden asked quietly.

"How can you _stand_ him? How can _Rin?_ He drives _me_ nuts."

"He's not so bad," Jaden protested. "I'm pretty sure he's just looking for a laugh most of the time..."

"Maxwell," Armend retorted. "_You_ think that _Brigadier_ General Duo _Maxwell_ is looking for a _laugh?_"

"Did you _hear_ them?" he demanded, gesturing back toward the room they'd just left. "And you only hear like...two seconds of conversation."

The man rolled his eyes.

"Come on, I know Qing doesn't have much leeway, but Maxwell's twenty-two...not exactly the most mature age, if I recall."

"_Maxwell_," Armend repeated pointedly.

"Yeah," Jaden agreed sarcastically.

"Rab may have been a little ambitious," Armend noted pointedly, "but he _was_ right about one thing. The gundam pilots are...are..."

"_Young_," Jaden cut him off blankly. "I heard all Rab's tales about them and how they had to be doing everything to piss him off, but when you start listening to _him_..."

"Stop me if I'm wrong," Armend retorted, "but I sort of remember him and his friends going into some psychology shit?"

"I think they saw a shrink," Jaden retorted. "Which I'm starting to envy them. What did you need?"

"A proposition for payment," Armend noted, pushing away from the wall. "It's readily evident that I can't suggest things on council anymore, even though you only _have_ this ship because of me..."

"Don't go getting _all_ pissy at me because of them...you _know_ I'll fucking vouch for you."

The man glowered at him and shook his head, starting down the hall. "I'll just submit it in triplicate...so you, _Rin_, and Maxwell can _discuss_ it."

"Oh, don't even get all pissy!" Jaden protested, taking a step after the man.

Armend flipped him off.

Jaden glowered after him, watching him disappear down the hall, then turned and moved back into the apartment again. Maxwell was laughing hard as he shut the door, and Qingfu was talking animatedly.

Well...at least he had a ready distraction.

Jaden sighed, then started to pull his shirt off as he moved into the room. "I know Qing doesn't have much to offer," he noted. "But I assure you, I am _much_ more impressive."

_**End**_


End file.
